Heavily armed 3 terrorists shot dead in Doda, hunt on for fourth

Heavily armed 3 terrorists shot dead in Doda, hunt on for fourth

Jammu: Three terrorists, heavily armed with M-4 and AK-47 rifles, were killed in a gunfight that lasted for more than six hours in a forest area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district on Wednesday. The terrorists are suspected to be Pakistan nationals and affiliated with the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror outfit.

A policeman was also injured in the gunfight that broke out in Bajaad village in the Gandoh area around 9.50 am amid a cordon-and-search operation launched by the police, Army and the CRPF following twin terrorist attacks in the hill district on June 11 and 12, police officials said. After the twin attacks, the security forces had intensified their anti-terrorist operations and announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each on information of four Pakistani terrorists believed to have infiltrated into the district.

Security forces received intelligence inputs on Tuesday evening about four militants hiding in a mud house in Bajaad. The encounter began on Wednesday morning as the forces which had reached the area came under heavy fire from the terrorists hiding in the mud house on a slope. One terrorist was killed in retaliatory fire after he came out and started firing on the search parties.

Heavy gunfire and explosions rattled the village as two more terrorists were eliminated by the security forces as the day progressed, the officials said.

The forces had deployed quadcopters to get a clear view of the terrorists hiding inside the structure.

While the bodies of the three terrorists were recovered from the spot, it is suspected that the fourth ultra is hiding in the forest in the area. In an official statement, the Army said three hardcore militants had been neutralised in a joint operation. “A large cache of warlike stores, including automatic assault rifles, has been recovered. The operation is currently in progress,” the statement read.

The forces deployed sniffer dogs and technology to minimize the casualty on the side of security forces.

Sources said the terrorists were trained in military-style combat. “They knew how to position themselves during the gunfight. The automatic rifles used by them had steel-core bullets and the group was communicating with each other during the encounter while holding their positions.”

The ultras are believed to be involved in the twin attack on security forces on June 11- 12 in Doda. Six security personnel were injured when terrorists attacked a joint check point at Chattergala on June 11, while a policeman was wounded in a gunfight with militants at Kota top in the Gandoh area the next day.

This was the second such encounter in the Jammu region this month. On June 11-12, two Pakistani terrorists and a CRPF jawan were killed in a 15-hour-long operation in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district.