NEW DELHI, Nov 22: Two army officers and two soldiers were killed in action after a fierce encounter broke in kalakot forests of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Two soldiers were also injured in the encounter that was still continuing and one militant killed in the joint operation being conducted by the Jammu & Kashmir Police and security forces in the border district. The deceased officer belonged to the 63 Rashtriya Rifles, police sources said.
The encounter started after army’s special forces and police launched a joint operation following intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the forest area. The Pir Panjal forest in Jammu and Kashmir have proved to be a challenge for the security forces in the last few years following a series of encounters. The terrorists use the dense forests to conceal their positions, taking advantage of the topography. Terrorists take advantage of treacherous mountains, dense jungles and the alpine forests to hide their positions.
The special forces had been rushed to retrieve the Major’s body when militants opened fire at them, injuring three soldiers. One of them succumbed to his injuries later, sources said.
Police sources confirmed that the encounter had been in progress since Wednesday morning, with five or six heavily armed militants holed up inside dense forests. The encounter started after militants opened fire on a joint search party of the police and security forces who had launched a cordon and search operation in the area. A police official said the body of the slain militant was lying inside the forests and could not be retrieved in view of the ongoing firing from militants.
Earlier, on Friday, a militant was killed in Rajouri’s Budhal area. An AK-47 rifle, three magazines, three grenades and a pouch were recovered from the slain militant, whose accomplices had managed to escape. Quoting locals, sources said two militants on Sunday visited a house near Keri Chaddar village and asked for food. A person who denied them food was beaten up by the militants, and he reported the incident to the security forces. By the time security forces reached the area, however, the militants had escaped.
(Manas Dasgupta)
