Security tightened in Jammu; additional CRPF troops deployed

Jammu, Sep 17 (UNI) In the wake of the serial blasts in Delhi on September 13, the security in and around the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir has been beefed up with deployment of additional CRPF troops, following intelligence inputs that militants may strike here, sources said today.

''Heavy deployment of police, besides additional troops of the CRPF could be seen at various vulnerable points across the city, while searches have also been intensified,'' sources told UNI.

The security cover, however, has been strengthened within and at the peripheries of the city, especially in view of the start of the holy festival of Navratras from September 30.

''The security agencies are keeping a close eye on various markets that are the hub of the tourists and local consumers, including the old city areas, the posh Residency Road and the Historic Raghunath Temple,'' police sources asserted.

The searches in the town have become a routine affair, following the incidents in Chinore, wherein 12 people, including three fidayeens, were killed and Kaluchack, where two suspects were seen, a senior police official said.

Meanwhile, security agencies, on intercepting the militants' messages ''to strike at busy areas of the city, especially market places'', have launched a massive hunt last evening in the Raghunath Bazaar area and its surroundings, while securitymen in civil clothes have also kept surveillance around the vital establishments and religious places for security reasons.

UNI VBH SBC AS1338