New Delhi: Close on the heels of the Nadimarg massacre of 24 Pandits, Centre and the state government on March 31 decided to form a special group to review existing macro-strategies in tackling militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, take special measures for protecting Pandits in the valley and deploy multi-tired forces along the border and line of control (LoC) to check infiltration.

The decision was taken at a high level meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and attended among others by state Governor G C Saxena, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, Defence Minister George Fernandes and External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha.

After a three-hour long meeting, Union Home Secretary N Gopalaswamy told reporters that a special group, to be headed by special secretary (J and K) in Home Ministry A K Bhandari, would review the strategies of the security forces and intelligence agencies in the restive state.

The group, which will have members from Army, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), intelligence agencies as well as state government and police, would also suggest appropriate strategies to be followed to counter terrorism in the state.

The group would hold detailed discussions with concerned agencies in the state and the Centre and also visit the state before finalising its report, he said.

"In fact, the meeting has stressed on the co-ordinated approach to meeting the challenges posed by terrorism," Gopalaswamy said.

Among other decisions, he said, the meeting focussed on multi-tired, multi-modal deployment at and near the border and LoC, he said.

PTI