Tight security as Bharat Jodo Yatra reaches J-K's Kathua

Kathua: Following the twin bombings in Jammu, the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which is being led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, resumed on Sunday from Hiranagar in the Kathua area of Jammu and Kashmir.

The foot march resumed after a day's hiatus at around 7 am from Hiranagar near the international border along the Jammu-Pathankot route, which had been closed off by police and other security forces.

Accompanied by J-K Pradesh Congress chief Vikar Rasool Wani, working president Raman Bhalla and hundreds of volunteers carrying the tricolour, Gandhi entered Samba district's Tapyal-Gagwal after crossing Londi checkpoint at around 8 am and was greeted by enthusiastic workers and supporters waiting on both sides of the road.

After covering about 25 km distance, the march will have a night halt at Chak Nanak before restarting from Samba's Vijaypur for Jammu, where it will reach on Monday.

Officials said adequate security arrangements are in place for Gandhi with police, CRPF and other security agencies keeping a tight vigil to ensure a peaceful march.

Security has been further beefed up across Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of twin bomb blasts in the Narwal area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Saturday, which left nine people injured.

Police suspect that IEDs were used to carry out the twin explosions in an SUV parked in a repair shop and a vehicle at a nearby junkyard in the Transport Nagar area of Narwal.

The terror attack comes at a time when security agencies in the region are on high alert in the wake of the Yatra of the Congress and the upcoming Republic Day celebrations.

The march started from Kanyakumari on September 7 and entered Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab on Thursday.

The yatra is scheduled to end in Srinagar on January 30 with the hoisting of the national flag at Congress headquarters by Gandhi.

With PTI inputs