STATE TIMES NEWS
Jammu: In backdrop of the terror attack on the Air Force Base in Pathankot, army has put on standby 30 to 40 Ghatak platoons in the Jammu region to respond to any contingency.
As many as 30 to 40 Ghatak platoons in the region have been put on standby to respond to any contingency, defence sources said. A Ghatak platoon usually comprises 20 commandos.
Heavily armed terrorists from across the border attacked the Pathankot Air Base on 2nd January, killing seven security men and injuring over 21. All six terrorists were killed during the operation which lasted a few days.
Following the Pathankot incident, all security forces in the region have stepped up measures to further strengthen security of garrisons and other installations, they said.
The measures include additional deployment of forces to dominate the infiltration routes usually taken by terrorists, effective patrolling and employment of surveillance equipment so as to eliminate terrorists before they reach their targets, they added.
A multi-disciplinary agency team comprising senior officers of Jammu and Kashmir Police, Central Armed Police Forces, Air Force, Army, Intelligence agencies and other stakeholders would undertake a security audit of all vital establishments and installations in the state by 22nd January.
In the attacks across the LoC, one was on the Army Regimental Centre at Mohra in Uri Sector; and the other two in the Tangdhar Sector. The remaining were at Udhampur, Dina Nagar and Pathankot.
These 12 terror attacks since September 2013 resulted in the killing of 51 persons (Army-16; J&K Police-12; civilians-11; DSC-5; NSG-2; BSF-2; CRPF-2; MES-1) and injury to 15 BSF personnel.
JIT proposed by Pak may not be allowed to visit Pathankot
Jaipur: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday appeared to have suggested that the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) proposed by Pakistan may not be allowed to visit Pathankot air base.
Asked by reporters about the proposed visit of the team to India, he said he does not know about it.
“I can assure (or guarantee) that without my permission no one can come. Those terrorists who came in were the last,” he said.
On a high-level security meeting held in Delhi on Friday under the chairmanship of Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Parrikar said, “It was a general meeting on security and has nothing to do with a specific case. It was about how to take care of our bases and assets and what are the lessons we learned from the gaps (that led to the Pathankot attack).”
