300 terrorists waiting to sneak into J&K

NEW DELHI: Around 300 terrorists are waiting across the Line of Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) for an opportunity to infiltrate into India, prompting the Army to strengthen its anti-insurgency security grid.

The terrorists have been spotted moving in batches from place to place along the LoC, apparently in search of vulnerable spots from where they could infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir, Defence Ministry sources said on Thursday.

The attempt was to push in as many terrorists as possible before the onset of winter when snowfall will make the mountainous terrains impregnable, the sources said.

"The next two months are crucial," they said, expecting a jump in the infiltration attempts.

In the recent times, there have been a number of attempts at infiltration, many times accompanied by firing from across the LoC to provide cover to such bids.

Security forces have killed at least 25 terrorists while foiling these infiltration attempts last month and these encounters took place at points along the LoC.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in an address to a conference of state police chiefs on Tuesday, had termed as worrisome secessionists and militant groups in Kashmir making common cause with "outside elements" and noted that infiltration across the LoC was going up.