KL Report
SRINAGAR
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Thursday dispelled the media reports about a heightened security threat to the pilgrims joining the forthcoming Amarnath Yatra.
Pertinently, the union home minister, Sushil Kumar Shinde, had also said on Wednesday, that the Yatra is facing a militant threat. “There is terror threat to Amarnath Yatra,” Shinde had told reporters in New Delhi, Yesterday.
Reacting to newspaper reports quoting union home minister that militants plan to target this year’s Amarnath Yatra beginning from June 28, the chief minister tweeted: “Talk about confusion within intelligence agencies, nowhere in the UHQ (Unified Headquarters) meeting yesterday (Wednesday) was a mention made of an increased threat# yatra.”
In another tweet, Omar said: “In fact, I asked a pointed question about whether the threats this year were higher than previous years and the answer was a categorical no.”
He also criticised the media for overplaying the threat. “So, while we will take all the regular precautions with a multi-layer security grid, ‘Yatra attack feared’ headlines are a gross exaggeration,” he said.
The chief minister on Wednesday chaired a meeting of the apex security grid in the state known as the Unified Headquarters, which was formed to coordinate security force action against the separatist guerrillas.
