A Pakistan-based militant group has received a large consignment of arms and ammunition, including AK-47 rifles, grenades, and anti-thermal jackets, reports from intelligence agencies have suggested. The agencies are now wary of a possible attack on Amarnath Yatra.
Yatra to the holy Amarnath caves began on June 28th and will continue till August end. The inputs come amid the news of the Centre not extending the suspension of counter-terror operations and the imposition of governor's rule in J&K last month.
Surprisingly, before the start of the Amarnath yatra, Riyaz Naikoo, the commander of the terror group, Hizbul Mujahideen released an audio assuring the pilgrims that they are safe and have nothing to worry about.
The intelligence agencies from their credible sources have suggested that Lashkar-e-Taiba has received a large consignment of arms and ammunition.
The earlier intelligence report suggested that Pakistani personnel had used 'thermal camouflage suits' to attack a Border Security Force post along the international border around mid-May resulting in the death of a jawan. The suit enabled them to avoid detection by night-vision devices.
The local BSF commanders in their initial investigation had anticipated that the jawan was killed in a sniper fire from the other side of the border. But eventually, footage of local Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI) showed a shadow moving across the screen, coming close to BSF post and firing indiscriminately which resulted in the death of Jawan.
Report accessed by The Economic Times shows that HHTI was unable to pick up a black shadow of the man as he could have been wearing a thermal camouflage suit. HHTI recognises body heat and creates a silhouette. A BSF source informed The Economic Times that the possibility of such suits or jackets being used for infiltration cannot be ruled out. Meanwhile, the LeT consignment could also consist of magazines, pistols, detonators and night-vision devices.
The central government is leaving no stone unturned to provide security to Yatris. In a series of measures, the CRPF has set up monitoring stations and have directed all the vehicles to use RFID tags to track the vehicles.
