Army Chief in Srinagar, reviews security with Sinha, top officers

Three days after 25 tourists and a local were killed in a major terror attack in Pahalgam, Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi arrived in Kashmir on Friday.

General Dwivedi was briefed by the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Commander about the current situation and the counter-terror operations underway in south Kashmir to hunt down the attackers, said sources.

The Army Chief was briefed about the ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Nowgam sector of north Kashmir and other places along the Line of Control, and the effective Indian response, they said.

He also called on Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in Srinagar, a meeting where both reviewed the security scenario. The Army Chief was accompanied by GOC-in-C of Northern Command, Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar, Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Pratik Sharma and GOC of 15 Corps, Lt Gen Prashant Srivastava.

A spokesperson said Sinha asked the Army Chief to take “effective steps not only to bring those responsible for the Pahalgam attack to justice, but also to intensify efforts to crush the terror infrastructure”.

“Every perpetrator and supporter of the Pahalgam attack, whatever his location or affiliation, must be hunted and made to pay a heavy price for the incident,” the Lieutenant Governor told the top Army officials.

The Army Chief’s visit comes less than 24 hours after Pakistan resorted to small arms firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K.

Meanwhile, over 2,000 persons have been detained across the Valley for questioning. The police had also launched search operations in Anantnag district, the police said in a statement.

J & K