Jammu, Mar 27: A fierce gun battle in a remote forested area of Kathua district has left two militants dead and five security personnel injured as the security forces intensified their operation to neutralise an infiltrating group of about five militants, officials said on Thursday.
It was not immediately clear whether it was the same group that had been evading an earlier cordon in Sanyal forest of Kathua region or another batch of freshly infiltrated militants.
The encounter triggered intense firing and explosions, the officials said.
The gunfight, centred near Jakhole village in the Ghati Juthana area of Rajbagh, involved a group of approximately five militants and an initial exchange of gunfire resulted in injuries to Special Police Officer Bharat Chalotra, who sustained facial wounds.
He was treated at a Kathua hospital before being transferred to Government Medical College Hospital in Jammu, where his condition was stated to be stable.
The officials said that two militants were killed in the onslaught led by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and assisted by the Army, the BSF and CRPF.
Adding to the tension, three security personnel, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were reportedly trapped near the gunfight’s location, adjacent to a rivulet concealed by dense foliage.
The officials said a clear picture would emerge only after the ongoing encounter ended.
It may be mentioned that a group of terrorists were intercepted by the SOG in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district on Sunday evening.
Despite a massive search operation, the terrorists managed to escape the initial cordon, the officials said, adding it is assumed that the same could have been possibly spotted near Jakhole, approximately 30 kilometers from the initial encounter site.
The militants were moving through the forest area when a police party headed by a SDPO moved in after getting specific information, the officials said, adding they came under heavy firing resulting in the gunfight.
Reinforcements from the police, army, and CRPF were immediately deployed to the area.
The quiet village Suffain in Kathua district was shattered by the relentless sounds of gunfire, grenades, and rocket fire as a fierce exchange raged throughout the day, punctuated by a series of powerful explosions.
Earlier, a group of terrorists was intercepted on Sunday evening within a ‘dhok’, a local term for an enclosure in a nursery, in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan.
A subsequent massive search operation, involving the police, army, NSG, BSF, and CRPF, utilised advanced technical and surveillance equipment, including helicopters, UAVs, drones, bulletproof vehicles, and sniffer dogs.
The search teams discovered evidence on Monday, including four loaded magazines of M4 carbine, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, food packets, and materials for constructing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near the Hiranagar encounter site.
Police believe the militants infiltrated on Saturday, possibly via a ravine route or a newly constructed tunnel from across the border.
Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat, and Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti, have been overseeing the anti-militancy operation from Kathua for the past four days, the officials said. (PTI)
