Internal security system needs beefing up

LEH, JUNE 28: There is a growing feeling among security forces in the Turtuk sector that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be invoked s...

LEH, JUNE 28: There is a growing feeling among security forces in the Turtuk sector that the Armed Forces Special Powers Act be invoked so that the Army is better equipped to deal with internal security situations.

With Pak artillery targeting this sector, the Army feels that rather than wait for police assistance, it should take a pro-active role in flushing out 8220;enemy moles.8221; The fact that two policemen were arrested with Pakistani arms, says an officer in the III Division headquarters, has led to a situation where 8220;we don8217;t even know who to trust and who not to trust.8221;

One of the two policemen, sources said, went to Skardu in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir PoK and received arms and training there. Superintendent of Police SP, Leh, Pankaj Saxena confirmed that not only the two policemen but several others arrested recently were trained and armed in Skardu.

For example, Ali Bhutto. Brother of Turtuk resident Ibrahim Sang Sang, he fled to Skardu and after being trained was even given the rank of a Pak Army Major. Sang Sang8217;s objective: to lure other Turtuk residents to work for the ISI.

The villages on the Army8217;s watch-list are Turtuk, Thang, Tyakshi, Panch Thang and Chalunka. All the 25 arrested come from here. 8220;There are around 2,500 residents in these villages. Of these 1,300 are in Turtuk alone. There are intelligence reports that Pakistani officers slip into Indian territory, train and arm these villagers and slip out,8221; a Leh police station official said.

In fact, the Army has recovered 25 AK assault rifles both 47 and 56, a sniper rifle, a light machine gun, a medium machine gun, a rocket launcher and silencers for pistols and the AKs.

One of the villages, Chalunka, is the base of the southern Siachen glacier. To stop information on Army movements being sent across the border, the Army requested the civil administration to evacuate all 2,500 residents of Turtuk sector and temporarily shift them to Leh.

Story continues below this ad

When the district administration asked the people if they wanted to be moved to Leh, they declined. Many of them routinely cross the LoC to meet relatives and attend family ceremonies in PoK villages, said a district administration official.

The Army has, however, moved the villagers down to their summer homes in Tabe Nullah. 8220;Actually it snows a lot in Turtuk village and other higher reaches. So the villagers, in winters, shift down to the Tabe Nullah area where they have also constructed summer houses. The army has now asked all the residents to move down to their summer houses and has restricted their movement here. We are cooperating with the Army as much as we can since they are right and also because it is a war-like situation,8221; the official added.