Jammu on alert; militants may target polls

Jammu is on high alert, with inputs suggesting that large batches of militants have managed to infiltrate. The police are not taking any chances.

A crack police team in Jammu is doing surprise checks in hotels. Vehicles are searched and people are being frisked at important entry points. The city is on high alert after intelligence inputs that Taliban militants could carry out some big attacks before the polls.

Infiltration attempts go up in the state with the melting of snow in the high mountains. But this time it has started earlier, say security experts, as the tough terrain is no hurdle for hardened militants Pakistan's frontier region.

"The security forces went slightly wrong on count. They were working on the time table and schedule of infiltration as has happened earlier, forgetting that when people from the FATA area come, for them snow is not much of a barrier," said M M Khajuria, former J&K DGP.

With just over a week left for the polls, the security forces have a tough challenge on their hands.