In two different confrontations performed by the Indian security forces, three militants were slaughtered in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Budgam districts.
An unanonymous militant was murdered in an encounter with security forces in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, police said. Security forces initiated a search operation in the Mochuwa area of Budgam district following sources about the presence of militants there, a police official said.
He said the search operation turned into a conflict after the militants fired upon the forces, who counter attacked.
“One terrorist was murdered in the encounter. An AK assault rifle and one pistol were recovered from the slain terrorist,” the official said. The identity and group affiliation of the slain militant is being unconfirmed, he said, adding the search operation in the zone is ongoing.
Two terrorist associates of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed in a gun-battle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Friday, officials said. A joint patrol party of police and the Army initiated a search in the forest belts of Thanamandi in Rajouri following sources regarding the presence of terrorists in the sector, a police representative said.
While the search was ongoing, the terrorists cloaking in the forest fired on the security forces. In the following encounter, two incognito members of forbidden terror organisation LeT were killed, the spokesperson said.
Two AK-47 rifles with seven magazines, four grenades, some pouches and packets of medicine were confiscated from the custody of the slain terrorists, he added. A defence spokesperson based in Jammu said the joint cordon-and-search operation by the Indian Army and police was initiated in the remote village of Pangai, sited in a forested area of Thanamandi. He said the terrorists were successfully nullified by the security forces.
The operation was ongoing at the time of filing this report to assure that the area is adequately sanitised. Giving reports of the encounter earlier, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone Mukesh Singh mentioned the security forces were tracking a group of terrorists in the forest belts of Rajouri through digital mediation for the last one month.
“We got information from Thanamandi and a contact was established with the terrorists, resulting in a confrontation in the forest belt,” he said. Three to four terrorists, counting two foreign nationals, were hiding in the forest zone of Thanamandi, he said, adding, “We feel they have shifted from Kashmir to this side.” Superintendent of Police (SP), Rajouri Sheema Nabi Qasba, who is supervising the operation, assured that there was contact followed by an exchange of fire.
