Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday issued instructions to Amarnath pilgrims and tourists not to visit the Kashmir Valley between 7 am and 6 pm, though no reason has been clarified officially as to why such orders were passed. Speculations over the orders suggest that the move came as a precautionary measure against the recent increase in the targeted killings in the valley.
Amarnath Yatra -- a Hindu pilgrimage in the country -- is starting on June 30 in the valley and will last till August 11. The Yatra is being held after a long hiatus of two years owing to the pandemic and the resultant lockdown. The authorities and administration in the area have made strict arrangements. For the first time, an anti-drone system is being used at a base camp in Bhagwati Nagar in view of the dangers posed by drones. In addition, sharpshooters have been deployed at sensitive locations, while sniffer dogs are also being used by the security forces. Anyone entering the Bhagwati Nagar base camp from outside without a pass has been banned.
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The targeted killings in the valley have caused unrest in the areas over the past few months. The Kashmir Valley saw back-to-back targeted killings by terror groups, especially the Lashkar-e-Taiba, whose victims included non-Muslims, security personnel, an artist, and local civilians. The stir caused because of these killings also led to several protests with the Kashmiri Pandits threatening mass exodus, leaving their residences to move to safer places.
Two persons -- a bank employee and a brick kiln labourer -- were killed in Kashmir on June 2 while another labourer was injured in two separate incidents. A woman teacher from the Samba district of the Jammu region was shot dead by terrorists at a school in south Kashmir's Kulgam district on May 31. On May 18, terrorists had entered a wine shop at Baramulla in North Kashmir and threw a grenade, killing one person from the Jammu region and injuring three others. Policeman Saifullah Qadri was shot dead outside his residence in Srinagar on May 24 while TV artist Amreen Bhat was gunned down in Budgam two days later.
Meanwhile, hundreds of devotees have been flooding Jammu for the annual Amarnath Yatra. Amid tight security arrangements at the Bhagwati Nagar base camp, pilgrims waited in queues for their turn to enter the Yatra Niwas. These pilgrims will leave for Srinagar from Jammu on June 29. Lt Governor of J&K flagged off the Yatra early in the morning on Wednesday at Yatri Niwas, Bhagwati Nagar in Jammu
