Accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Defence Secretary-designate Sanjay Mitra, Jaitely was briefed by the Army commanders on the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir
Amid heightened tension on the Line of Control (LoC), Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday asked the Army commanders to remain prepared and give befitting response to any misadventure from the other side of border.
"He also impressed upon the commanders to maintain strict vigil along the LoC and remain prepared to give a befitting reply to any misadventure from across," said a Defence spokesman quoting Jaitely during a security review meeting here.
Earlier, Jaitley arrived on a maiden visit to Kashmir after taking over the reins of the Defence ministry. Accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat and Defence Secretary-designate Sanjay Mitra, Jaitely was briefed by the Army commanders on the prevailing situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
"The Defence minister was apprised of the various measures to strengthen the robust counter infiltration grid along the LoC. He was also briefed on the close coordination among all the government agencies towards bringing back normalcy in the region," said the spokesman.
Lauding the valour and sacrifice of soldiers, Jaitley urged them to continue the good job being done and ensure safety of the innocent people while dealing firmly with the inimical elements.
Jaitely's visit came on the day when security forces went into an overdrive and searched more than 500 houses without arresting or neutralising any militant in the separatist heartland of Shopian in restive south Kashmir.
Police said, in an effort to flush out the militants holed up in the area, forces conducted extensive searches in Heff and Shirmal villages of district Shopian in south Kashmir.
The operation was launched on the intervening night of May 16 and 17 after security forces received specific intelligence inputs about the presence of ultras in the twin villages. However the operation was marred by the massive stone pelting prompting the security forces to wind up the offensive this morning.
Police, however, claimed that operation was successful and it concluded as planned in the morning. "During the searches, maximum restraint was shown in dealing with the miscreants, who tried to disrupt the operation at Heff village. After successful completion of searches with the cooperation of villagers, the operation concluded as planned this morning," said a police spokesman.
The renewed offensive against the militants comes even as the Pakistan army upped the ante on borders and extended shelling to newer areas on the Line of Control (LoC) in the Pir Panjal valley of Jammu division.
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