PM arrives in Anantnag to inaugurate new railway service

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived here on Wednesday on a two-day visit to inaugurate the 119-km-long Anantnag-Qadigund Railway line at Vanpooh Anantnag in the Kashmir Valley.

Dr. Singh is being accompanied by UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and Health, Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and Minister for New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah.

Later, Sonia Gandhi will address a rally in Anantnag.

The Prime Minister is visiting Kashmir for the first time after Congress'' victory in the 2009 elections.

Tight security arrangements have been made in view of his two-day visit.

Meanwhile, the Centre has reportedly directed the Jammu and Kashmir Government and security forces in the state to step up vigil following intelligence inputs that Hizb-ul-Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin has asked his cadres to step up violence ahead of Dr. Singh''s visit to the region.
A senior Home Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told a private channel that intelligence agencies have intercepted communications between the Hizbul headquarters in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and cadres operating in Kashmir which suggested that Salahuddin was very upset over the killing of top Hizb militant Omer Maviya and wanted revenge.

According to the intercepts, Salahuddin has directed his cadres to step up violence ahead of the Prime Minister's visit and disrupt his programmes.