Jammu: The Jammu-Pathankot national highway and villages near the International Border were put on a high alert on Friday after the villagers claimed that they saw heavily armed men near the agriculture fields.
A police official said that one Ravinder Kumar, a native of village Chhan Kana of Jatwal area of Samba district, claimed to have spotted four heavily armed persons in Army uniform late Thursday night.
“Ravinder Kumar along with his father was guarding maize their fields during the night when he spotted the four suspects,” the official said, adding “the father-son duo immediately informed Ghagwal police about those suspects.
The police official said that soon after the matter being reported, security forces launched a massive cordon and search operation in border district Samba.
The development came a day after a fierce encounter on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district, where security forces foiled an infiltration bid by killing two militants. Two soldiers were also killed in the exchange of fire.
Defence sources said: “An alert has been sounded in border areas of Samba and Kathua districts with the deployment of additional forces on both sides of the ‘vulnerable’ Jammu-Pathankot national highway.”
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Samba, Rajesh Sharma confirmed that “we are on a high alert. Checking has been intensified and forces have been deployed at all sensitive points”.
Sources said that patrolling vans of police have been deployed on the highway to conduct random checking of vehicles and all entry points have been plugged.
Out of a total length of 100 km, nearly 44-km stretch on Jammu-Pathankot highway runs almost parallel to the border with Pakistan in Kathua and Samba districts.
Although the Jammu-Pathankot national highway has never been affected by the shelling from across but this track has been vulnerable to militant attacks. (With inputs from KNO)
