J&K admin imposes night curfew along international border in Samba

Jammu: Night curfew has been imposed along the International Border (IB) in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district to ensure better area domination by BSF troops and to foil any nefarious activities close to the borderline, according to an official order.

The step was taken to prevent cross-border infiltration and smuggling of weapons through drones in the extreme foggy weather conditions prevailing along the Indo-Pak border line, said the order issued by District Magistrate Abhishek Sharma on Sunday.

According to the order, the movement of civilians has been stopped from from 9 pm to 6 am in one kilometre-long strip from the IB in Samba district.

“No person or group of persons shall move in the area up to one kilometre along the International Border in district Samba from 2100 hours to 0600 hour during the night,” the DM said in the order and invoked Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code to impose a night curfew along the IB.

The instruction was issued following a meeting of the district-level standing committee where authorities of the Border Security Force (BSF) suggested the imposition of a daily night curfew on a one kilometre-long strip from the IB, enabling them to perform their duties more effectively, the order said.

“It is felt by the district administration that it is expedient that the movement of people in border areas is regulated so that there is better area domination by BSF in border areas and nefarious designs of forces inimical to Indian security are subverted,” the DM said in the order.

In case movement is necessary, the person or persons are required to produce their respective ID cards to BSF and police authorities, Sharma said.

“Any person found violating the aforementioned order shall be dealt with in accordance with law. Since it is not possible to serve the order individually, it is being issued ex-parte,” the order read.

"This order shall come into force with immediate effect and shall remain in force for a period of two months from the date of its issuance, if not withdrawn or rescinded earlier," it added.