SRINAGAR: The body of another policeman was sighted using a drone on Friday near the site of a fierce gunfight in a remote forested area of Kathua district, Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
This brings the police death toll to four in the ongoing operation, while three militants have also been confirmed dead, officials added.
Heavy gunfire and loud explosions continued for the second consecutive day as police, assisted by the Army and CRPF, resumed the operation on Friday morning after a night halt to sanitise the Safiyan area, officials said.
On Thursday, three suspected Pakistani militants of the banned Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit and an equal number of policemen were found dead after an intense day-long gunfight. One policeman was also reported missing. Seven others, including a deputy superintendent of police, were injured in the exchange of fire.
According to officials, security forces resumed the operation at first light with a primary focus on retrieving the bodies of the deceased, locating the missing policeman, and neutralising any remaining threats.
They said joint security teams are advancing cautiously towards the target area, where two more militants are believed to be holed up. Although they were presumed dead earlier, drones have yet to confirm the sighting of their bodies.
The encounter, which began around 8 am on Thursday near Jakhole village in the Ghati Juthana area of Rajbagh, is part of intensified operations against militants who are believed to have recently infiltrated from across the International Border in the Hiranagar sector, officials said.
However, it remains unclear whether the militants engaged in Kathua are the same group that evaded a previous cordon in the Sanyal forest of Hiranagar or another infiltrated batch.
Three militants were killed in the offensive led by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, with support from the Army and CRPF.
Adding to the tension, five police personnel, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were reportedly trapped near the encounter site, adjacent to a rivulet concealed by dense foliage.
The SDPO, a DSP-rank officer, was later rescued in an injured condition on Thursday evening. Three of his personal security officers (PSOs) were found dead, while the fourth policeman’s body was spotted on Friday morning.
Apart from the SDPO, three more policemen were admitted to Kathua hospital, where their condition is said to be stable. Two Army personnel were also injured during the operation.
The militant group was initially intercepted on Sunday evening within a ‘dhok’—a local term for an enclosure in a nursery—in Sanyal village near the International Border in the Hiranagar sector.
A large-scale search operation, involving the police, Army, NSG, BSF, and CRPF, utilised advanced technical and surveillance equipment to track and neutralise the militants.
Despite the extensive operation, the militants managed to escape the initial cordon, officials said, adding that it is suspected the same group may have been spotted near Jakhole, approximately 30 km from the original encounter site.
On Monday, search teams discovered crucial evidence at the Hiranagar encounter location, including four loaded M4 carbine magazines, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, food packets, and materials for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
The militants were reportedly moving through the forest towards the Billawar side when a police team, led by an SDPO, launched an operation based on specific intelligence inputs. However, the police party came under heavy fire, triggering the prolonged gunfight.
Following the attack, reinforcements from the police, Army, and CRPF were swiftly deployed to the area, while special forces of the Army were airdropped to neutralise the militants.
Police officials suspect the militants infiltrated on Saturday, possibly using a ravine route or a newly dug tunnel from across the border.
Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu Zone Bhim Sen Tuti have been supervising the counter-terrorism operation from Kathua for the past four days, officials said.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy outfit of Pakistan-based militant group JeM, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
