Alert in Kashmir after militants take away TATA Sumo

Srinagar, Apr 6 (UNI) An alert has been sounded in the entire Kashmir valley today on the eve of the first anniversary of the launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service after militants forcibly took away a vehicle in Pulwama district which the security agencies suspect could be used in carrying out a terror attack.

A police spokesman said today that three militants forcibly took a white coloured TATA Sumo vehicle from its driver at Pahoo chak village in Pulwama district of south Kashmir last evening.

Police have registered a case and launched a massive hunt to trace the vehicle, he added.

Official sources said immediately after the report, an alert was sounded in the entire Kashmir valley.

They said security has been further tightened in view of the celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the launch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus service (Karvaan-e-Aman) tomorrow.

The cross-border bus service between divided Kashmir was launched by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on April 7 last year after nearly 58 years following an agreement between India and Pakistan to allow families separated since 1947 to meet each other.

The 170-km Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, also known as the Jhelum Valley road, was closed for traffic on October 27, 1947 when ''Kabailis (tribesmen)'' invaded parts of Jammu and Kashmir which came to be known as Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The sources said intelligence reports suggested that militants could use the vehicle for triggering an explosion in the Valley.

''We are on high alert and are determined to foil any attempt by the militants to cause large-scale disturbances in the Kashmir valley,'' they added.

The spurt in car bomb attacks in the past several months has been a cause of worry for the security agencies and shaken the entire security apparatus.

Several people have been killed and scores wounded in the car bomb explosions in Kashmir over the past several months.

UNI AG RR BS1928