Spotlight on need for vehicle scanners

PTI

Jammu, December 28

With yet another incident of terrorists trying to sneak into Kashmir by hiding in a truck, security experts have batted strongly for the installation of vehicle scanners along the highways.

Four heavily armed terrorists, travelling in a truck to Kashmir after infiltrating from Pakistan, were killed in a “chance encounter” with security forces here early Wednesday morning, a police officer said. The gunfight took place around 7.30 am amid dense fog near Tawi Bridge in the Sidhra bypass area along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

Mercury drops to -13.4°C in Leh

• Intense cold gripped Ladakh and Kashmir and dense fog covered Jammu city in the morning on Wednesday
• The MeT office said mainly clear sky with cold and dry weather was likely to continue in Ladakh and J&K over the next 24 hours
• Srinagar had -5.6°C, Pahalgam -7.4°C and Gulmarg -6°C as the minimum temperature
• In Ladakh region, Kargil had -11.8°C and Leh -13.4°C as the night temperature
• Jammu recorded 2.7°C, while Bhaderwah shivered at the minimum temperature of -0.8°C. IANS

“There has been a long pending demand of security forces to install full-body vehicle scanners along the highway,” security expert and retired Army officer Brig Anil Gupta said. He said in the absence of such scanners, one could not check each and every truck.

Brig Gupta, who served at the Nagrota-based 16 Corps headquarters, said the “loophole is being exploited” by terrorists and their supporters.

“I think the only solution to this is to have full-body scanners installed at various locations along highways with checking made mandatory for vehicles,” he said.

The police had on November 10 busted a terror module of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and arrested three operatives from the Narwal area.