Srinagar, May 29: The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has approved the deployment of 581 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) to Jammu and Kashmir for providing massive security to the Amarnath Yatra 2025 beginning on July 3.

The MHA has approved the deployment to provide security to the pilgrims, official sources said on Thursday.

The decision comes ahead of Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s two-day visit to the union territory.

The ministry has authorised the J&K administration and police to utilise 156 CAPF companies already stationed in the region.

“These include 91 CRPF, 30 SSB, 15 CISF, 13 BSF, and 7 ITBP units, each comprising around 75 to 80 personnel.

“MHA will dispatch an additional 425 companies by June 10, which will include 130 BSF, 128 CRPF (including five women’s units), 67 SSB, 55 ITBP, and 45 CISF companies. The forces will be on duty till the conclusion of the yatra on August 9, after which they will be de-inducted.

“A communication regarding the same has been sent to the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police of J&K on May 23. The MHA had responded to a formal request from the J&K government dated May 20, seeking additional forces to ensure a safe and peaceful pilgrimage season,” sources said.

This year’s Amarnath Yatra begins on July 3 and will end on August 9, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan and Shravan Purnima festivals.

The Amarnath cave shrine is situated 3888 metres above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas. The cave shrine houses an ice stalagmite structure that wanes and waxes with the phases of the moon.

Devotees believe that the ice stalagmite structure symbolises the mythical powers of Lord Shiva. They approach the cave shrine either from the traditional longer Pahalgam route in Anantnag district or the shorter Baltal route in Ganderbal district.

Jaipur, May 29: Security agencies have arrested a government employee in Jaisalmer on charges of espionage. The accused, Shakoor Khan, currently employed as a clerk at the Mangalia District Employment Office had recently travelled to Pakistan without obtaining departmental permission.

He was formerly the personal secretary of ex-minister Saleh Mohammad in 2008, during his tenure as the MLA from Pokhran.

According to reports, the authorities discovered several Pakistani phone numbers in his phone which Shakoor Khan couldn’t explain. He also confessed that he had travelled to Pakistan at least seven times in recent years.

Officials revealed that acting on Intelligence inputs, security personnel detained Shakoor Khan from the employment office and began questioning him regarding his visit.

Sources confirmed that Shakoor, a resident of Mangalia Ki Dhani in Baroda village, is being interrogated by the Joint Investigation Committee.

Multiple agencies are collaborating to probe the matter further as Shakoor Khan was found to have phone numbers associated with Pakistan stored on his device, officials said.

The arrest comes amid heightened security across India following ‘Operation Sindoor’, launched in response to the recent Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 people, mostly civilians, were killed.

Given the strategic sensitivity of Jaisalmer due to its proximity to the Indo-Pak border, agencies are closely monitoring all suspicious activities. As of now, no official statement has been released by authorities regarding the case.

The Joint Investigation Committee is questioning Shakoor Khan, who was caught from the employment office on Wednesday night.

Various investigation agencies are working together to get to the bottom of this matter, said officials, adding, “Shakoor is being questioned for travelling to Pakistan without informing the department despite being a government employee.”

“There were inputs about Shakoor Khan that he could be involved in spying for Pakistan. He was on surveillance following inputs and was detained last night,” media reports quoted an official as saying.

A joint interrogation was conducted in Jaisalmer following which the team left for Jaipur with Shakoor Khan.

Bagdogra, May 29: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the brutal terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam was an assault on humanity itself, but India’s swift and precise response through Operation Sindoor has dealt a decisive blow to terrorism and exposed Pakistan on the global stage.

Addressing the 50th-anniversary celebrations of Sikkim’s statehood virtually from Bagdogra, PM Modi strongly condemned the Pahalgam attack, in which Pakistan-linked terrorists killed 26 people.

“Tourism is not just about leisure, it is a celebration of diversity. But what the terrorists did in Pahalgam was not just an attack on Indians; it was an attack on the soul of humanity, on the spirit of brotherhood,” the Prime Minister said.

Stressing the national unity in the face of terror, he said, “The terrorists shattered the happiness of many families; they conspired to divide us as Indians. Yet today, the entire world is witnessing a stronger, more united India.”

In a firm tone, PM Modi said India responded to terrorism and its sponsors with “unwavering unity and sent a strong, clear message”.

“They tried to wipe the sindoor off the heads of our daughters, leaving them in grief, but we responded with Operation Sindoor, delivering a fitting blow to terrorism,” he said.

Under Operation Sindoor, the Indian Armed Forces launched targeted precision strikes on nine high-value terror infrastructures located in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

PM Modi noted that while these hubs were dismantled, Pakistan retaliated by attacking Indian military, civilian, and religious sites.

“When the terror hubs were destroyed, Pakistan, in fear, tried to attack our citizens and armed forces. But in that too, Pakistan was exposed. We destroyed several of their air bases and proved that India can do whatever it wants with precision and promptness,” he said.

Earlier, in one of his speeches, the Prime Minister reiterated that Operation Sindoor is not over and is the “new normal” in India’s fight against Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism.