Village defence guard killed in gunfight with terrorists in J-K's Udhampur; massive search operation on

PTI

Jammu, April 28

A Village Defence Guard (VDG) member was killed in a gunfight with recently infiltrated terrorists in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district early on Sunday, a senior police officer said.

Additional Director-General of Police, Jammu zone, Anand Jain, who rushed to the area to supervise the anti-terrorist operation, said a massive search operation is on to track down and neutralise the terrorists who have infiltrated from Pakistan.

The ADGP said two groups of terrorists are believed to be present in the area after they recently infiltrated from across the border.

Jain led the wreath-laying ceremony of slain VDG member Mohd Sharief at Basantgarh police station this evening and saluted his supreme sacrifice for the nation.

Deputy Inspector General of Police, Udhampur-Reasi range, Rayees Mohd Bhat, and other officers from police and CRPF also paid floral tributes to the martyr.

“We got information about the presence of terrorists (in Panara village of Basantgarh) late on Saturday night and activated police and VDG members. Because the information was not pin-pointed and we have a vast jungle area, the area domination patrols were launched,” Jain told reporters after the Sharief’s body was dispatched to his home at village Khaned for last rites.

He said one of the parties came under fire while moving towards Chochru Gala heights around 7:45 am and in the ensuing encounter, the VDG member laid down his life.

Reinforcements from the police, CRPF and Army were rushed and the whole area was cordoned off to track down the terrorists and neutralise them, the officer said.

Officials said the Army made two helicopter sorties to drop para-commandos deep inside the dense forest to eliminate the terrorists.

The ADGP said two groups of terrorists are believed to be present in the area after they recently infiltrated from across the border.

“Where from the terrorists have infiltrated is a matter of investigation which is going on, but it is certain that this group is a freshly infiltrated one,” he said when asked about possible infiltration of the terrorists through the International Border from adjoining Kathua district.

He said the strength of the two groups, as per preliminary investigation, is between four and six but their affiliation is not known immediately. “We are working on various inputs and the area is being sanitized to hunt them down with deployment of additional forces.” Earlier, official sources said there was information about movement of two separate groups of terrorists, who infiltrated recently, from Kathua to Basantgarh.

One of the groups with five members was confronted, while there was no trace of the other group, which has four members and whose movement was last reported in the Machedi top area bordering Kathua, they said.

The sources said the terrorists are believed to have infiltrated through the International Border from Kathua district and are heading to Kashmir via Chenab valley, taking advantage of the thick forest.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kumar, a VDG member, demanded equipping them with automatic weapons to take on the terrorists effectively.

“We are ready and will not allow them to settle down,” he said.

This was after a long time that an encounter took place in Basantgarh, once a hub of terror activities, before it was cleared of terrorism by the security forces about two decades ago. 

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