The army operated a convoy on Monday notwithstanding an order of the Jammu and Kashmir government that such movement of vehicles should take place only twice a week—Sunday and Wednesday, army officials said.
The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, saidthe order will hamper the operations of the army. The officials claimed therewere no consultations with the army officers concerned before the order on theconvoy movement for security forces was issued.
“During informal talks, it was made clear to the stateofficials that such an order was not possible to implement,” said an officerwho is engaged in convoy movement.
The state Home Secretary ShaleenKabra on the directions ofChief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam issued an order on April 3 in which civiliantraffic was restricted on the highway from Udhampur in Jammu region toBaramulla in northern Kashmir on Sunday and Wednesday every week till May 31 tofacilitate the
smooth movement of the convoys of the forces on those twodays.
However, there was movement of army convoy on the highway onMonday and at some places even the CRPF vehicles were seen.
There was no formal reply yet to a query sent by PTI to thespokesman of the strategically located XV corps which is also tasked withcounter-insurgency operations.
The Jammu and Kashmir police as well as other state and central security agencies were also apparently caught unawares about the order issued by the state home department.