Security forces put on alert ahead of PM Modi’s Srinagar visit

SRINAGAR: Security forces have been put on alert ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is scheduled to address a public rally at the Bakshi Stadium here on Thursday, officials said on Sunday.

The deployment of security personnel has been increased around the renovated Bakshi Stadium with barricades set up for checking the vehicles passing through the venue of PM Modi’s rally, the officials said.

Police and paramilitary forces are conducting random checking of vehicles at dozens of places in the city and elsewhere, the officials said.

Special check points have been set up at various places in the city, including the entry and exit points as a precautionary measure, they said.

The security forces have increased patrolling around the venue of the rally as part of area domination exercise to ensure a smooth and incident-free visit of the prime minister.

This will be the prime minister’s first visit to the Kashmir valley after the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

This will be his second visit to Jammu and Kashmir in as many months. PM Modi had visited the Jammu region last month to inaugurate several development projects. He also addressed a public rally in Jammu.