Union Home Minister Amit Shah today visited forward areas in the Hiranagar sector along the International Border in Kathua district, marking the start of his two-day tour of Jammu and Kashmir. The Home Minister launched welfare schemes for the Border Security Force personnel and visited the border outposts of Gurnam and Bobiyian in the Hiranagar sector. The Minister inspected the arrangements made by BSF to curb infiltration. Mr Shah also chaired a high-level security review meeting at Lok Bhawan, Jammu, which focused on a comprehensive review of border and internal security.
The Home Minister’s visit comes amid heightened focus on border management to scuttle infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics, and stepped-up anti-terror operations that left four hardcore Pakistani terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) dead in nearly a dozen encounters in Kathua, Udhampur and Kishtwar districts over the past two weeks. Mr Shah interacted with the BSF personnel guarding the frontier. He also e-inaugurated and laid the foundation of six welfare schemes for the BSF personnel from Bobiya border outpost and interacted with the BSF officers and jawans on the International Border, and took feedback on the situation.
Later in the afternoon, the Home Minister distributed compassionate appointment letters and met the families of martyrs at the Lok Bhawan, Jammu. Mr Shah also chaired a high-level security review meeting at Lok Bhawan Jammu, which was attended by the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, top officials ofthe Ministry of Home Affairs, Army Chief, and senior officers from the Police, BSF, Intelligence agencies and CRPF. The meeting focused on a comprehensive review of border and internal security, with directions issued to further strengthen the security apparatus.
The Home Minister will hold another high-level review meeting tomorrow morning to review the development of Jammu and Kashmir. LG Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior officers of MHA and civil administration from J&K will attend the development review meeting. Mr Shah is on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir. He arrived in Jammu late last night and was received by the Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, at the airport. The Home Minister will return to New Delhi in the afternoon tomorrow.
