New Delhi, Feb. 1: A significant jump of 30 per cent in infiltration attempts on the Line of Control has left the Indian security forces worried. They fear an escalation in violence in Jammu and Kashmir in summer as an unusually high number of militants has sneaked into India.

This would have a direct impact on government's plan to withdraw more troops from Jammu and Kashmir as it would wait till summer of 2010 to pull out another batch of soldiers. There is widespread demand from various political parties in the state to reduce troop strength as a confidence building measure.

India has already withdrawn 30,000 soldiers, two divisions, and relocated to their original basis. Defence minister A.K Antony had indicated that more reduction was in the offing. Indian intelligence agencies claim that 499 infiltration attempts were made from across the border in 2009 in which more than a 100 militants must have managed to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir. But the level of violence in the state has remained low signaling that these militants might be lying dormant before striking. In terms of numbers, there was about 30 per cent fall in level of violence.

The officials involved in anti-insurgency operations claim that militants who infiltrate take their own time to settle down and procure adequate weapons before launching operations. In 2008, 348 infiltration attempts were made, much lower than the 2009 figure.

Army chief general Deepak Kapoor has gone on record claiming that around 700 militants were waiting to cross Line of Control as terror infrastructure was alive and kicking in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir despite several assurances by Islamabad.