Now, CRPF to 'identify and track' Amarnath yatra vehicles

The first batch of pilgrims leaves for Amarnath Yatra. Pic/PTI

After last year's attack on an unescorted bus of Amarnath pilgrims, the CRPF has this year adopted an "identify and track policy" for vehicles ferrying devotees to the annual cave shrine pilgrimage in Kashmir Himalayas beginning Thursday.

To ensure identification, the CRPF, primarily responsible for the security of the pilgrims, in coordination with other state and Central agencies, has set up multiple help desks and tourist reception centres so that non-registered vehicles being taken by Amarnath pilgrims can be pasted with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags.

The RFID device uses radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object, CRPF's 73 Battalion Commandant P P Pauly said. The tag is pasted on vehicles when an individual or tour operator registers to travel to Kashmir for Amarnath Yatra. The RFID, the official said, helps determine which vehicle is travelling on which route and its location at a given time.

To track the RFID-tagged vehicles, four sub-monitoring stations have come up at different routes heading towards the shrine cave. Two sub-stations are at Bemina and Bandha Chowk in Srinagar, said the officer.

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