Two terrorists killed, JCO among three Armymen injured in J&K encounter

SRINAGAR: Two terrorists were killed while three Armymen, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were injured in an ongoing anti-terror operation in the Arrah area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday afternoon, IGP (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar said.
Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in Arrah, a joint team of Army’s 34 RR regiment, CRPF and J&K Police launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area, Kumar said. As the forces neared the suspected hideout, holed-up ultras opened fire at the search party, triggering a shootout in which initially one terrorist was killed and the Army trio sustained minor injuries.
The IGP said the operation was halted for a few hours as the security forces brought the family members of the second terrorist to the spot of the encounter so that they could persuade him to surrender. The terrorist, however, turned a deaf ear to his kin’s pleas and was killed after the exchange of fire resumed.
The injured were shifted to Army’s 92 Base hospital for treatment even as the firefight continued till the filing of this report. Internet services were suspended in Kulgam as a precautionary measure. As many as 120 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir Valley this year so far, an official said.
Meanwhile in Rajouri district, a joint team of security forces busted a terrorist hideout in Dodassan Bala village in Thanamandi area on Saturday and recovered a sizeable amount of arms and ammunition including “one UBGL, 11 UBGL grenades, 14 AK magazines, 920 AK rounds, two Chinese pistols, two pistol magazines, one Chinese grenade, detonators with IED-making material, one pressure mine and one Pika round,” Rajouri SSP Chandan Kohli said.
“On specific information, a joint team of police and Army’s 38 RR launched a cordon-and-search operation in Dodassan Bala and Dodassan Pain areas under Thanamandi police station area. During the search, a terrorist hideout concealed within bushes was busted,” the SSP said.
Thanamandi Police registered a case under relevant sections of the IPC, Arms Act and Explosive Substances Act and further investigation is underway, Kohli added.
(with inputs from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)