Amarnath Yatra: Security forces prepare drill to tackle sticky bomb threat

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“Threat of IED attacks has always been there. For that we have decided that the entire route in both the Pahalgam and Baltal axis for the yatra will be sanitised to ensure there are no IEDs on the roads. However, sticky bombs which can be surreptitiously attached to a vehicle are a new threat this year. Drills are being prepared to guard against it,” a central security force officer said.

The sources said some of the ways being discussed are drivers of buses and other vehicles being trained in spotting sticky bombs and remaining alert to bikes coming close to their vehicles while ferrying pilgrims. “Generally, terrorists attach sticky bombs when a vehicle stops at a traffic signal or for any other reason. Drivers will be trained to be extra careful at such times. May be one person can alight from the vehicle at such times and keep a watch,” an officer said.

A bus carrying pilgrims from Jammu caught fire on May 13 after an explosion near the fuel tank near Khanak, around 1.5 km from the destination Katra. Four people were killed in the incident while more than 20 were injured.

Initially, the J&K Police termed it a case of the engine catching fire due to some technical fault. However, following examination of the spot and the bus, security agencies increasingly suspect it to be a terror attack in which a sticky bomb, which uses magnets, was attached to the fuel tank.

The incident cast a shadow on the Amarnath Yatra, which will be the first after August 5, 2019 decisions that stripped J&K of its special status.

In the wake of recent killings of migrants and Kashmiri Pandits in the Valley, security agencies have flagged heightened threat to the yatra.

Sources said the government has decided to deploy extra security forces this year. “A demand for the exact number of companies has not yet been received from J&K Police. However, our expectation is that there will be more than 400 companies (40,000 personnel) of central armed police force deployed to ensure security of the Amarnath Yatra. In 2019, as many as 318 companies were deployed,” an officer said.

Following a review meeting of security arrangements for the yatra by Union Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this month, the J&K administration had announced that not only would all vehicles ferrying pilgrims be RFID tagged this year, but every pilgrim would get an RFID tag as well. Sources said this will help security forces to determine how many pilgrims exit a camp at a time and reach the next police picket on the route and whether everyone reaches safely. The administration has also announced that each pilgrim will be insured for Rs 5 lakh for the yatra.

Apart from these, the entire route would be monitored real time with drones, the sources said.