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Ahead of the upcoming Amarnath yatra to South Kashmir Himalayas, the Jammu and Kashmir Police Sunday foiled a major terror plan by shooting down a Pakistani drone in Kathua district’s Talli Hariya Chak village in Hiranagar, just 3 km from the international border.
Giving details, Kathua SP Ramesh Chander Kotwal told mediapersons that following information from villagers about some drone activity in the area for the past two-three days, a police party from the Rajbagh police station was sent to the area early morning to carry out searches. “The police search party, too, noticed a drone coming from Pakistan side and it lowered its height over a field. The police opened fire at the drone, bringing it down,” he said.
Drone coming from border side shot down in Talli Hariya Chak under Rajbagh PS in Kathua district. The drone has a payload attachment with it which is being screened by the bomb disposal experts: Jammu & Kashmir Police pic.twitter.com/yq9gXRcacQ
— ANI (@ANI) May 29, 2022
As the drone was found having a payload attachment, bomb disposal experts were called. They separated the payload attachment from the flying machine and found seven sticky/magnetic-type bombs, besides an equal number of grenades, the Kathua district police chief said.
The shooting down of drone and seizure of sticky bombs and UBGL grenades by police assumes significance as the upcoming Amarnath yatra, which will be the first after the Central government’s August 5, 2019, decision of stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, is only a month away.
As per yatra dates announced by Shri Amarnath Shrine Board, the 43-day pilgrimage this year will start on June 30 and conclude on Raksha Bandhan on August 11.
The threat of sticky bombs, especially during the upcoming Amarnath yatra, is being seen seriously by the police and security forces in view of the May 13 Katra bus fire incident, which is suspected to have been caused by a sticky bomb. Four persons had died and more than 20 injured in that incident. Security forces are currently engaged in preparing drills to guard against any such incident during the Amarnath yatra.