Top officials from the Border Security Force (BSF), the Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab police, and representatives from Central agencies convened on Thursday in Kathua for the Inter-State Coordination Conference. The aim of the meeting was to strengthen the security grid and prevent infiltration across the border.

The meeting follows the ambush in Kathua on July 8, where five Indian Army soldiers lost their lives. It is believed that the attackers, suspected to be foreign terrorists, infiltrated Indian territory via the International Border.

The Kathua-Billawar-Badnota-Basantgarh-Bhaderwah-Kishtwar axis has historically been a common infiltration route for terrorists entering the Kashmir Valley during peak terrorism periods.

The high-level security review meeting focused on enhancing border security and improving synergy between the state police forces and the BSF. The conference was attended by Spl DG BSF Western Command YB Khurana, DGP J&K RR Swain, DGP Punjab Gaurav Yadav, ADGP (Law and Order) J&K Vijay Kumar, ADG (Law and Order) Punjab Arpit Shukla, and IG-rank BSF officers from Punjab and Jammu.

Discussions centered on improving intelligence gathering, monitoring suspicious movements, and exposing sleeper cells of overground workers in the border areas of Kathua and Punjab. Security agencies revealed that local overground workers provided shelter, logistics, and crucial information to terrorists, sometimes escorting them to safe hideouts undetected.

Security forces have been deployed in the hilly areas of Kathua, Udhampur, and Doda to eliminate the fleeing terrorists. Forces are proceeding cautiously to avoid potential IEDs planted by the terrorists in and around their hideouts.