Amit Shah arrives in Srinagar, will address rally in Kashmir's Baramulla on Wednesday

Srinagar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Tuesday arrived here as part of his three-day tour to the Union territory, officials said.

They said Shah arrived at the Srinagar airport from the Jammu region at around 7 pm.

The Union home minister set off the three-day tour of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday. He met several delegations on Monday, and on Tuesday, he visited Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine at Katra and addressed a public rally in Rajouri.

On the Shah's Kashmir itinerary is a public rally in Baramulla on Wednesday and a security review meeting, the officials said.

They said the focus of the meeting will be on tackling the attacks on the non-locals in the Kashmir valley.

The launch and foundation laying of various development projects in Srinagar is also on Shah’s list, the officials said, adding he will then return to Delhi the same evening.

Security has been tightened in the valley for the Shah's visit. The officials said multi-tier security has been put in place and drones are being used for aerial surveillance as well.

The checking on Srinagar-Baramulla highway has been intensified, while additional police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed to keep a close watch on the situation, they said.

Patrolling has been intensified at many places, especially on the Srinagar-Baramulla-Kupwara highway, the officials added.

The rally venue has been turned into a fortress, they said.

The BJP has said Shah’s Baramulla rally will be historic. "This will be the biggest rally in the history of north Kashmir," BJP's J-K unit president Ravinder Raina said.