Amarnath attack: Army chief reviews security

Union Ministers Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir assure Mehbooba Mufti of the Centre's support.

In the wake of the July 10 attack on Amarnath Yatra pilgrims, army chief General Bipin Rawat met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti at her Srinagar home on Tuesday.

Before meeting Mufti, General Rawat met Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra.

Army officers briefed General Rawat about the security situation in Kashmir, especially in Anantnag.

Union Ministers Dr Jitendra Singh and Hansraj Ahir also met the governor and CM and assured the state government of the Centre's support in maintaining law and order in the Kashmir valley.

Dr Singh, minister of state in the Prime Minister's Office, and Minister of State for Home Ahir are part of a central delegation which visited Kashmir to assess security measures for Amarnath pilgrims in the wake of Monday's terrorist attack.

"This yatra is a symbol of Kashmir's composite tradition," Dr Singh, a native of Jammu, said.

"This is a yatra where people of one faith undertake the pilgrimage and the people of the other faith act as hosts," Dr Singh added.

A security meeting would determine if the investigation of the terrorist attack should be assigned to the National Investigation Agency.

Asked if there was a security lapse, Dr Singh said he would not like to engage in a discussion "on an issue as sensitive as this".

"I think it is best left to the security experts. Let them come out with their inferences and as a political establishment we will follow it up," the minister said.

Asked if there was need to increase security for the yatra, he again felt that decision should be left to the security experts.

The ministers visited the two injured pilgrims undergoing treatment at the SKIMS hospital at Soura on the outskirts of Srinagar.

"I must compliment the doctors and Dr (Abdul Ghani) Ahangar, the director (of the SKIMS hospital), the injured are speaking very high of them," Dr Singh, himself a doctor, said.

"In maybe just two or three days," Dr Singh added, "it may be possible to shift them back. One belongs to Gujarat and another to Maharashtra."