Security beefed up in Kashmir in view of US president's India visit

Srinagar: Security has been increased across Kashmir as a precautionary measure in view of US President Donald Trump's two-day visit to India, which began on Monday, officials said.

"In view of the incidents that have taken place in Kashmir ahead of high profile visits to the country, security has been strengthened in the Valley," a senior police officer said. In March 2000, Lashkar-e-Taiba militants killed 35 Sikhs in Chatisinghpora village in Anantnag district during the visit of former US president Bill Clinton to India. The official said additional personnel from the police and paramilitary forces have been deployed here and elsewhere in the Kashmir Valley to ensure that militants are not able to carry out any attacks.

Surveillance and area domination exercises have been intensified in some areas, he said. Mobile vehicle checkpoints have been set up at several places for curbing the movement of people who provide logistical support to militants, the official said. He said security arrangements have been beefed up as a precautionary measure. The All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC) has appealed to the community members to maintain vigil.

"The visit of a high profile foreign personality, especially that from the US, leads to fear psychosis and panic among the Sikhs living in the Kashmir Valley. The Sikhs are feeling insecure and they fear that something untoward might happen," APSCC chairman Jagmohan Singh Raina said in a statement on Saturday, while referring to the 2000 incident.