‘Ensure seamless synergy in counter-terrorism grid’

Jammu, Jan 17: To discuss seamless strategy and operational preparedness, a high-level joint security meeting was held at the headquarters of the White Knight Corps on Wednesday.

The meeting was co-chaired by Director General of Police (DGP) Rashmi Ranjan Swain and General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 16 Corps Lt General Navin Sachdeva.

The meeting was also attended by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Nitish Kumar and other senior Police and Army officers.

“Joint Security Review: A Joint #Security Review Meeting was co-chaired by #GOC #Whiteknightcorps and DGP @JmuKmrPolice given upcoming important events. The forum discussed seamless synergy in #Operations, joint Combat Readiness, #CounterTerrorism Grid and formulated modalities of heightened alert with the help of all resources including technological and aviation assets. @adgpi @NorthernComd_IA,” White Knight Corps posted on X.

Sources said that the meeting discussed the threadbare prevailing security scenario in Rajouri and Poonch districts, besides measures taken to deal with terror.

Since October 2021, the region has witnessed a string of terrorist ambushes and attacks on the Army, the latest being the targeting of an Army convoy near Krishna Ghati in Poonch on January 12.

A search operation by the Army and J&K Police to hunt down the terrorists is underway in the forests.

Late last month, terrorists killed four soldiers in Poonch in an attack on Army trucks in Dera ki Gali.

Since January 2023, at least 52 persons, including 25 security personnel and 25 terrorists, have been killed in the Poonch-Rajouri-Reasi range.

Data since October 2021 shows 30 terrorists killed by security forces – mostly Pakistani - in Poonch, Reasi, and Rajouri while security forces lost 30 men.

A Brigadier-level officer was taken off duty and moved out of Poonch as the Army launched an internal inquiry into the three civilian deaths reported in Poonch, hours after the terrorist attack on Army vehicles in Poonch that killed four soldiers.

The Army is taking disciplinary action against some officers and rejigging the postings of others in the wake of the civilian deaths in the region amid allegations of custodial torture by the families of the deceased.