Amid Kishtwar ops and Pak drone intrusions, Home Minister Amit Shah to visit J&K

Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, who is head of the Unified Headquarters (UHQ), is likely to join the review meeting along with some officials from the Union Home Ministry.

The security review meetings assume significance as it is taking place at a time when the Army is engaged in an operation in the Kishtwar region of Jammu to track down a group of Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives in the dense snow clad mountains of Chatroo. Though the joint team of forces have engaged the group four times over the last fortnight, the militants have managed to escape taking advantage of the terrain and dense forest cover. A soldier was killed on January 18 following an encounter with Jaish terrorists in the Son Nar area of Kishtwar.

The Army had launched a massive operation on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountains last month to drive out the insurgents.

The review meeting also comes at a time when there are frequent reports of Pakistani drones intruding into Indian air space on the Line of Control and the International Border, especially in the Jammu sector.

This is the Union Home Minister’s first visit to Jammu and Kashmir since September last year. On September 1 last year, Shah visited Jammu to chair a security review meeting after the annual Amarnath Yatra.