High alert in Kashmir on UPA chairpersons visit

Srinagar, Sep 9 (UNI) Security forces have been put on high alert on the eve of UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi's visit to Kashmir.

Ms Gandhi is arriving here tomorrow to attend a womens meet at Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Complex (SKICC) on the bank of famed Dal Lake.

The authorities have imposed ban on plying of all commercial and non-commercial vehicles from Dalgate to Nishat from tomorrow morning till the function is over.

No vehicle without a valid pass issued by the security agencies would be allowed to move beyond the Dalgate crossing and Nishat, a press release issued here said.

It said all the vehicles from city to Nishat, Shalimar, Harwan and other localities in the area will have to take alternative route to reach their destinations. Similarly vehicles coming from these areas will have to take same route and avoid Boulevard and Gupkar roads.

A UNI correspondent who visited the Dal Lake area today saw a large number security force personnel, holding automatic weapons and wearing bullet proof jackets, guarding both sides of the road.

A security jawan has been deployed after every five to ten feet while security forces in water boats could be seen in the interior of the Lake to thwart any militant attack during the function.

Pedestrians on the Boulevard road were being frisked and their identity cards checked by the security personnel at a number of places.

Residents of Dalgate said patrolling by the security forces continued throughout the night in the area and adjacent localities.

Vehicles coming from different areas in the outskirts were being checked at different points before allowing them to enter the city. This, official sources said, was being done to foil any militant attempt to smuggle in arms and ammunition into the city.

Security forces also conducted random search operations in the city, particularly in the civil lines.

Security in the villages and areas where members of the minority community are living has been further tightened to thwart any militant attack during the visit of Ms Gandhi.

UNI