With heightened security concerns following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, authorities are stepping up surveillance measures ahead of the annual Amarnath Yatra. Among the key steps is the deployment of a facial recognition system (FRS) by the Jammu and Kashmir Police to identify blacklisted individuals and suspected terrorists, PTI reported.
The system captures facial features from live video feeds and photographs, cross-referencing them with a central database. If a flagged individual appears on camera, an alert is instantly sent to the control room.
“If any blacklisted person comes into the camera’s range, an alert goes off at the surveillance centre so immediate action can be taken,” an official said.
The technology is also being installed along the Baltal route, one of the two main paths to the Amarnath cave shrine. The yatra begins on July 3 and concludes on August 9, coinciding with Raksha Bandhan. This year, the duration has been reduced to 38 days from 52 days last year.
Despite concerns following the April 22 attack, more than three lakh devotees have already registered for the pilgrimage to the Himalayan shrine.
