New Delhi: The situation in Jammu and Kashmir remained calm Tuesday, but security forces say law and order issues could crop up once restrictions are slowly lifted, with Pakistan expected to stoke the fire over the decision to scrap Article 370 and bifurcate the state into two Union Territories.
Defence sources said Pakistan is expected to also heat up the Line of Control, and could “calibrate” an attack in the Valley.
“Pakistan will have to act. They have been surprised by the move of the Modi government. While they will of course try and launch a diplomatic onslaught against India, the Army will also follow a separate policy,” a source said, giving an insight into the assessment of Indian defence and security agencies.
Asked what the Pakistan Army is expected to do, the source replied: “We are expecting ceasefire violations to take place on a larger scale now. We also think that Pakistani agencies will calibrate a terror attack.”
Sources explained that Pakistani terrorists are already present in Kashmir, and they would be tasked with carrying out an attack. But they could also use a local terrorist like they did in the case of the Pulwama attack in February.
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‘Can’t expected hostile elements to be silent’
Although the situation remained peaceful in Kashmir Tuesday, security agencies expect violence to come later. But they are confident that it can be handled.
“You can’t expect the inimical elements in the state to remain silent in the face of such a bold and unexpected move by the government. The situation will become tense for some time once the restrictions are eased,” an Army officer said.
The officer said the forces are prepared for whatever happens, and added that certain law-and-order issues are expected Friday, the holy day for Muslims.
Pakistan could pump weapons into Kashmir
Intelligence inputs suggest that Pakistan could try and pump more weapons into Kashmir since the terror organisations are facing a shortage.
This fear came true Tuesday when, following a search in the Uri sector, the Army found a cache of three AK-47s, three pistols and 13 grenades about 500 metres inside the LoC.
Sources said the search was carried out after unexpected movement was picked up by the radars early morning.
“This is not a classic infiltration case. Movement was seen, random shots were fired by the soldiers, and later, these weapons were found during the search. It seems the idea is to dump weapons at some location, only to be collected later by someone else,” an officer said.
It is possible that such attempts could have been made in the past and were successful, sources said.
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