INDIA, June 25, 2007: Days before the two-month-long annual pilgrimage to the holy cave of Amarnath begins, unprecedented and elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to ensure that there is no security threat to the pilgrims. Sources say this has been undertaken after militants caught recently revealed in an interrogation that some groups–especially the Lashkar-e-Toiba, might be planning attacks. “In spite of al these inputs that we do get, I am sure that we will not allow them (militants) to succeed in any of their nefarious acts. And we are prepared for the best that can be done,” said M.P. Nathaniel, DIG (Operations), CRPF.
A three-tier security arrangement has been made for the Yatra. The CRPF is to guard peripheral areas of the cave, particularly mountain ridges. The Army is also in place on both routes to the cave–that is, Pahalgam and the shorter route Baltal. Maulana Azad stadium, from where hundreds of people across the country will be taking their onward journey of faith towards Amarnath on June 30, has been completely sanitized with police personnel scanning every inch of the area with mine detectors. The hugely revered and popular Amaranth cave shrine is 3,880 meters high and houses a naturally formed Ice stalagmite, believed by devotees to be the image of Siva, in the form of a lingam.