Search operation in Kishtwar's Chatroo enters Day 2
JAMMU: The cordon-and-search operation launched by joint teams of Army's 2 Para Special Forces, Assam Rifles, 11 Rashtriya Rifles, J&K Police's Special Operation Group (SOG), and local police in the dense forests of Singhpora-Chatroo in Jammu division's Kishtwar district entered the second day Friday, even as no contact was established with the suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists who killed a soldier and wounded two other security personnel the previous day.
On Thursday, Sepoy Gaykar Sandip Pandurang from Maharashtra fell to terrorists' bullets during a fierce encounter. He succumbed at a nearby hospital, while the two injured troopers were moved to Udhampur military hospital for treatment. Soon after, additional troops were deployed to the encounter site, and reinforcements rushed in to prevent the terrorists from escaping, even as both sides continued trading bullets intermittently.
'The fire exchange reduced late Thursday and stopped thereafter,' said an official source, adding that four JeM terrorists were believed to be holed up in the cordoned area. J&K DGP Nalin Prabhat visited the spot and issued directions to the troops.
Sepoy Pandurang's death marked the ninth fatality among security forces in Jammu division this year in shootouts with terrorists. In Feb, an IED blast near LoC in Akhnoor killed Capt Karamjit Singh Bakshi and Naik Mukesh Singh Manhas during a patrol.
Since March 23, five gunfights with terrorists erupted across Jammu division — three in Kathua, one in Udhampur, and one in Kishtwar. Four policemen lost their lives, while three others and a minor girl were wounded on March 27 in Kathua.
On April 11, Subedar Kuldeep Chand of 9 Punjab was killed along LoC in Akhnoor sector; on April 24, Havaldar Jhantu Ali Sheikh from 6 Para Special Forces died in a gunfight in Udhampur district.
On April 12, JeM commander Saifullah and two others were killed in Chatroo's Naidgam area. Forces found an M4 carbine, an AK-47, Pakistan-made rations, and medicines at the site.
Between May and Dec last year, J&K witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks. Over 30 terrorists were killed in counter-offensives, while security forces recorded 25 casualties — 19 in Jammu and six in Kashmir.
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