Heightened vigil along the border, stepped-up search operations, and a ban on the use of VPN services at various places in the hinterland are some of the measures being taken by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces to check terror activity across the Union Territory ahead of the New Year.
Officials said security forces and police have jointly launched cordon and search operations at various locations in the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal regions. Pointing out that these operations have been going on for the past few days following inputs about the movement of terrorists, sources said that searches have been in progress in over half a dozen places in the adjoining Doda and Kishtwar districts.
These areas include Chatru, Singhpur, Domail, Keshwan, Thackrai, Naidgam and the upper reaches of Doda, bordering Kishtwar, sources said, adding that security forces and police had also established contact with terrorists at some of these places in the recent past.
Two groups of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) men, comprising nearly half a dozen terrorists, are reportedly present in both the districts, apart from the longest surviving Hizbul Mujahideen commander Jahangir Saroori, officials said.
Security forces also conducted search operations at several places in the border Poonch district, including areas close to the Line of Control.
At all these locations, security forces and police also used drones and sniffer dogs to aid in their searches.
Meanwhile, as part of the heightened alert, police and security forces also set up joint nakas at various places along the Jammu-Pathankot national highway and checked vehicles in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts.
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Efforts to impart arms training to village defence guards (VDGs) have also been stepped up in Doda district. Around 150 VDGs from nearly 17 remote villages along the Doda-Chamba border are being imparted training in the handling of automatic rifles, self-defence, bunker construction and repulsing terrorist attacks, official sources said.
VPN bans
Meanwhile, several districts in the Union Territory have banned the use of virtual private network (VPN) services, saying it was a measure to check misuse of the internet by anti-social and anti-national elements. Sources said the ban is aimed at breaking the communication network between militants, their sleeper cells and handlers across the border.
The latest to impose a ban on the use of VPN services are Shopian, Kupwara and Kulgam districts, where respective district magistrates have warned of legal action against those violating the ban order.
Earlier, these services were banned in several districts of Jammu province, including Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Poonch and Rajouri by district magistrates on the grounds that VPN services have the potential to be exploited for unlawful and anti-national activities.
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On Friday, two people were booked by police in Doda for using VPN services in violation of the ban, and another person was arrested in Rajouri district on December 14 for using a VPN application on his mobile phone.
Police sources said the ban on the use of VPNs was necessary after inputs that militants may try to revive their networks in the Valley and some regions of Jammu.
“By preventing anti-national elements from misusing VPNs to communicate with their handlers and sleeper networks, we can effectively nip their plans in the bud,” said a police officer, adding, “Over the last few years, we have observed that militants, their handlers and OGWs mostly used VPNs to contact each other an to stay below the radar of the security agencies.”
Increased border vigil
To check infiltration by terrorists from across the border under the cover of fog, additional troops have been deployed along the International Border in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts.
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This followed intelligence reports about stepped-up activity at terror launch pads on the Pakistan side of the border. However, no major infiltration attempt has been reported on the International Border in the Jammu region in recent months.
