New Army brigade set up in Billawar to ‘instil confidence among locals’

However, there is still no official word from the Indian Army on this. The Kathua district’s Bani tehsil already has a Brigade Headquarters at Sarthal, a beautiful meadow situated at a height of 7,000 ft and connected to Bhaderwah tehsil in Doda on one side and Himachal Pradesh on the other. Surrounded by snow-clad mountains, the area remains covered with snow six months a year.

At the event, the minister referred to security concerns in view of increasing terrorist activity in remote areas of Kathua district to say that an Army brigade has been established on a permanent basis at Rampur town in Basohli sub-division.

“The decision has been taken recently and it will create a sense of confidence among the local people,” he said. “An Army brigadier has been posted there and he is in touch with the civil administration. Now, there is one brigade headquarters at Sarthal and another at Rampur. The entire area of Kathua district will remain under Army’s watch until the normalisation of the situation there.”

Singh also talked about the construction of multipurpose barrage over Ujh – a tributary of the Ravi river — saying the project had been pending for nearly 100 years.

“Earlier its estimated construction cost got increased and thereafter a thinking cropped up that where the extra water will be sent after the construction of the dam. But after the recent incidents of infiltration from across the international border, a demand for having such a construction has come from the forces also so that it becomes an obstruction to infiltration,” he said, adding that additional water from the barrage will be diverted to Samba district and Punjab through canals.

Significantly, the new Brigade Headquarter at Rampur falls in close proximity to hilly Basantgarh area of Udhampur district’s Ramnagar subdivision which has lately re-emerged as one of the favourite destinations of terrorists coming from Pakistan after crossing the international border in Kathua’s Hiranagar.

Four police men and two terrorists were killed in a fierce exchange of fire in the forests of Jakhole village in Kathua district’s Rajbagh area on March 27. The slain terrorists were part of a five-member group who were first challenged by the police and security forces on the evening of March 23 in the forests of Saniyal village where they were hiding after having crossed the IB.

On March 8 this year, bodies of three civilians were found from a river flowing through the Inchhu forest in Malhar area. While the autopsy report suggested their death in a fall from the mountain, the Union Minister had claimed that they were killed by “terrorists” as part of a conspiracy to “vitiate” peace in the area.

Five army soldiers were killed and an equal number of others injured in a terrorist attack on an army convoy at Badnota en route to Sarthal on July 8 last year. The establishment of a new brigade headquarters in Kathua appears to be a measure to clear the densely forested areas, falling on the tri junction of Kathua, Udhampur and Doda districts, of terrorists.

Currently, terrorists infiltrating into Kathua from across the international border take the route along Tarnah nullah and Ujh river to reach Udhampur district.