The operation, personally led by Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, was launched on Sunday evening in the Hiranagar sector. It was intensified with additional deployment of commandos, drones and sniffer dogs on Monday morning
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A cache of incriminating material, including several loaded magazines of M4 carbine assault rifles and a couple of grenades, were seized as security forces intensified their search to neutralise a group of infiltrating terrorists in Kathua district of Jammu-Kashmir on Monday, officials said.
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According to news agency PTI, the operation, led by Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, was launched on Sunday evening in the Hiranagar sector. It was intensified with additional deployment of commandos, drones and sniffer dogs on Monday morning, said officials.
An army helicopter was also seen hovering over the area later in the day.
The operation was launched by police with a Special Operations Group after they got intelligence about the presence of terrorists inside a 'dhok', a local term for an enclosure, in a nursery of Sanyal village, around five kilometres from the Pakistan border, the officials quoted above stated.
The terrorists launched a barrage of fire at the police party, leading to an intense gunfight that lasted for more than half an hour, they said.
A seven-year-old girl suffered minor injuries when a stray bullet passed close to her arm, reported PTI. She was admitted in a local hospital.
Jammu-Kashmir: Operation being led by DGP Nalin Prabhat
Reinforcements were swiftly dispatched and a manhunt was launched to apprehend the terrorists, believed to have infiltrated on March 22 either via the ravine route or through a new tunnel.
There was no report of casualties in the initial firing and the area was kept under a tight security cordon throughout the night before the forces moved in at the crack of dawn, the officials said.
Though there has been no fresh contact with the terrorists, the search parties found four loaded magazines of M4 carbine assault rifles, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, several packets of eatables, and separate polythene bags, the contents of which will be known only when they are opened by the bomb disposal squad, the officials informed further.
Prabhat, who rushed to the spot immediately after getting information about the presence of the terrorists, was seen leading from the front deep inside the forested area on Monday afternoon, PTI reported.
Holding an AK assault rifle, he was seen directing the operation from the ground.
One input suggested that two groups of at least five terrorists each had infiltrated into the district.
Jammu-Kashmir: Infiltration came to light when locals were collecting firewood
Local villagers, meanwhile, organised a community kitchen for reporters and the security personnel at the outer cordon.
According to the officials, the infiltration came to light after some village women collecting firewood reported seeing around five terrorists. According to the women, the suspects had sought refuge in the expansive nursery area.
Anita Devi, a 48-year-old villager, said heavily armed terrorists caught hold of her husband when they were at the nursery to collect firewood.
"The terrorists held my husband at gunpoint and asked me to come close. But my husband signalled me to run and I ran. One of the terrorists tried to stop me but I started shouting, attracting the attention of two more people who were cutting grass," she told PTI.
She said the incident occurred around 4.30 pm on Sunday and they all returned home and informed the police about it. The terrorists had beards and were wearing commando uniform, said Devi.
Jammu-Kashmir: 'Heavy gunfire heard in region'
District Development Councillor Karan Kumar also said heavy gunfire was heard in the region.
"An atmosphere of fear has gripped the village by the presence of the terrorists. We heard around 250 rounds of gunfire," he stated, adding that security forces had encircled the entire area to flush out the terrorists.
Kathua has emerged as a major infiltrating route for Pakistan-based terrorists to reach the higher reaches of Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar districts and further to Kashmir region over the past year.
After carrying out deadly attacks in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch over the past four years, terror activities spread to six other districts in the Jammu region in 2024, leaving 18 security personnel dead. Thirteen terrorists were also killed in operations in the district.
Though the Pir Panjal districts of Rajouri and Poonch witnessed a considerable drop in terror activity in 2024 compared to previous years, the series of incidents in Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Udhampur and Jammu from April-May last year became a concern for security agencies.
According to official data, nine people were killed in Doda, Kathua and Reasi districts, five in Kishtwar, four in Udhampur, three each in Jammu and Rajouri, and two in Poonch in 2024.
This year, Kathua was shaken by protests following the mysterious deaths of five individuals in the remote Billawar tehsil.
The bodies of 15-year-old Varun Singh, his paternal uncle Yogesh Singh, 32, and his maternal uncle Darshan Singh, 40, were discovered in the Ishu nullah in the secluded Malhar area in the higher reaches of Kathua on March 8. The three had gone missing three days earlier while attending a wedding.
Last month, Shamsher, 37, and Roshan, 45, were found dead in the village of Kohag in Billawar. Post-mortem reports revealed that both had been strangled.
(With PTI inputs)
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