SRINAGAR: The Army on Tuesday claimed that its troops defending the Line of Control (LoC) hit upon ‘a huge cache of arms and ammunition’ left behind by a group of infiltrators in in secreted locations in Rampur sector of Uri belt in Jammu and Kashmir’s north-western Baramulla district.

It said that, after being challenged by alert troops, the infiltrators moved back into Pakistan-occupied-Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).

Separately, the Border Security Force (BSF) and J&K police said that they during a joint operation carried out in Shiendara Top and Khanater Top villages in the hills of Poonch district of Jammu region recovered two pistols with four magazines and 150 rounds of live ammunition, five AK-47 magazines and 250 bullets, two wireless sets, four grenades and a Binocular from a militant hideout.

Defence spokesman, Colonel Rajesh Kalia, said here that the Army troops detected movement of suspicious persons in a forward area in Rampur sector on August 30. “The movement was from a village close to the LoC and the suspects crossed into Indian Territory. Due to terrain of thick foliage and weather conditions an alert of likely infiltration attempt was sounded,” he said.

He added, “The surveillance grid was beefed up all across the area and along the likely infiltration routes and ambushes were sited to thwart any attempt of infiltration. Surveillance continued throughout the night”.

The spokesman further said that at first light on Monday, the troops carried a search of the area which continued for seven hours and that it was when two “concealed locations” in two “hideouts” were discovered. “From these hideouts five AK series rifles along with six magazines and two sealed boxes of 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition, six pistols with nine magazines and six rounds, 21 grenades, 2 UBGL grenades and 2 Kenwood radio sets with one antenna were recovered,” he said.

The Army said that the area has villages ahead of the anti-infiltration fence and claimed that the suspected modus operandi is to drop war like stores in caches near the LoC and, subsequently, militants or their Over Ground Workers (OGWs) picking the same for further transportation into the hinterland for terror activities.

Colonel Kalia said that a similar attempt was made earlier on 22 July this year, when inputs were received regarding a likely weapon drop along the LoC ahead of the anti-infiltration fence. “During the subsequent search operation along the LoC in Rampur sector one AKS-74U with magazines, five pistols-one of these with Chinese markings- and magazines, 24 grenades and other warlike stores were recovered, he said.

A statement issued by the Army here asserted, “The modus operandi shows desperate attempts by Pakistan based terror groups to infiltrate weapons into J&K for terror activities, with active connivance of the Pakistan Army. Robust surveillance and LoC domination activities will continue to deny all such misadventures”.