Terror threat to Amarnath Yatra, security beefed up for pilgrims, says Sushilkumar Shinde

The annual Amarnath Yatra is facing a terror threat and the government is making all efforts to ensure security of the pilgrims, Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said on Wednesday. "There is terror threat to Amarnath Yatra," Shinde told reporters here when asked about reports which suggested threat to the pilgrimage to the cave shrine in Jammu and Kashmir.

The nearly two-month-long annual Amarnath Yatra is scheduled to begin on June 28. The Home Minister said the government was taking precaution and sending additional forces to ensure safety and security of all pilgrims visiting the cave shrine.

"All efforts will be made to ensure security of every pilgrim," he said.  General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Lt General K T Parnaik had said on Monday that the Army has received inputs that terrorists might try to disrupt the Yatra.

"Intelligence inputs which we are receiving suggest that they (terrorists) have intentions to disrupt the Yatra," he had said. The Jammu and Kashmir government has also declared the entire Amarnath Yatra route in the state as "highly prone" to terror strikes and said it has directed security agencies to take necessary steps to ensure safety of pilgrims.

Meanwhile, Director General of CRPF, Pranay Sahay is in Jammu and Kashmir to review the security arrangement for the Yatra.