Security forces cordon off area in J&K’s Kathua after suspected terrorist movement
Jammu, March 31 (IANS) After suspected movement of terrorists was detected on Monday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, police and security forces cordoned off the area.
Officials said that the fresh movement of three terrorists in the Juthana area of Rajbagh police station is believed to be that of the remaining terrorists after two were killed in Safiyan village in an encounter with the army and security forces.
Two terrorists and four policemen were killed, and three others, including a deputy superintendent of police, were injured in a fierce encounter in the forested area of the Sanyal belt of Kathua district on Thursday.
On Monday, police received fresh inputs about the movement of three persons suspected to be escaped terrorists in the Juthana area of the Rajbagh belt and immediately put the area under cordon to conduct searches, officials said.
“A resident of the village informed police that three suspects entered a house, asked for food and then headed into the nearby jungle late yesterday evening. Police are tracking a group of terrorists after intercepting them last Sunday within a ‘dhok’ (Enclosure in a Plant Nursery), in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan. After three terrorists reportedly escaped from the Safiyan village area, security forces extended the search parameters, bringing a large area under the ongoing operation,” said the officials.
Till last reports came in, no contact (Exchange of gunfire) had been established with the hiding terrorists.
The Army is working in close coordination with the security forces to track down the hiding terrorists, officials said.
J&K DGP, Nalin Prabhat, supervised the operation against the terrorists in Sanyal village, while the army used heavy gunfire to dislodge the terrorists, who had been occupying heights in the area to have a clear line of sight on the ascending security forces.
The DGP said the casualties taken by the police force have resulted in a renewed resolve to have the scourge of terrorism rooted out from J&K forever.
–IANS
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