“Operation to continue until all terrorists are neutralised,” Kathua DIG
Shadow Correspondent
Jammu, Mar 31:
Security forces have intensified search operations using aerial surveillance and sniffer dogs following a night-long cordon after fresh reports of suspected movement of three individuals, believed to be terrorists, who escaped a recent encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, officials said.
Security forces, which have picked up six persons for questioning, have also launched a search operation in Samba sector near the international border to sanitise the area, while the entire border belt has been put on alert, officials said.
On Sunday night, three suspected terrorists entered a house in Rui village, several kilometres from the encounter site, and took away food from her kitchen, they said.
“Multi-tier combing operations have been intensified following fresh movement of terrorists. After a night-long cordon, a search operation was launched this morning in the Ghati-Juthana forest area,” an officer said.
Aided by aerial surveillance and sniffer dogs, the army, police, NSG, CRPF and BSF are engaged in a multi-tier operation to track down the terrorists in the forest belts of Rui, Juthana, Ghati and Sanyal in the Rajbagh region, and parts of Billawar, the officials said.
The joint operation teams are also focusing on the overground and underground networks of the terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in areas along the International Border (IB), they said.
On Sunday night, three suspicious persons dressed in black robes entered the house of Shanker in Rui village and asked for water from a elderly woman.
“I was alone at home when they asked me for water. I went into another room out of fear after giving them water,” the elderly woman told reporters.
“Before leaving, they forcibly entered the kitchen and took away rotis and sabzi,” she added.
The woman said they even offered her money — two Rs 500 notes — before leaving, which she refused.
The incident prompted the security forces to put the area under night cordon.
It is difficult for terrorists to survive in the absence of a network of overground workers (OGWs), who provide them with food, shelter and escape routes, the officials said.
The forces have picked up six persons, including some women of a family, for questioning as it is alleged that they provided food, shelter and guidance to the terrorists operating in the region, the officials said.
The women belong to the family of Mohammad Latief, an OGW who is in jail under the Public Safety Act (PSA) for helping terrorists in Malhar during an attack on an army truck last year, in which six soldiers lost their lives.
It is believed that Abu Tala, one of the slain terrorists, stayed at Latief’s house.
The security forces have questioned over two dozen persons about terrorist movements in the area.
Police are also tracking a group of terrorists after intercepting them on March 23 within a ‘dhok’, a local term for an enclosure in a nursery, in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan.
Tracking them led to an encounter in Sanyal village, which resulted in the killing of two terrorists and four policemen last Thursday.
The bodies of three other policemen — Balwinder Singh Chib, Jaswant Singh and Tariq Ahmed — were found on Friday evening.
The bodies of two Pakistani terrorists, believed to be affiliated to the Jaish-e-Mohammad, were also recovered along with war-like stores.
The body of head constable Jagbir Singh was retrieved from the Ghati-Juthana forest on Saturday.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front, a shadow outfit of Jaish-e-Mohammed, claimed involvement in the encounter. (Agencies)
The security forces have intensified their actions against terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua. According to Shiv Kumar Sharma, DIG, Jammu-Samba-Kathua range, the operation to track down terrorists in the region is still on, due to which some people have also been detained by the police.
“Jammu and Kashmir Police will continue its operation until the terrorists are neutralised. Every soldier of ours is committed to killing every terrorist selectively so that our area remains safe. The Army is with us, and everyone is conducting search operations together as a team. We have an international border and people are very alert and give us information on which we take action,” Shiv Kumar Sharma said while speaking to reporters on Monday.
Furthermore, DIG Sharma said that the force is “sad” as they lost their one jawan in the Kathua encounter. However, he emphasised that the soldiers’ training is very good and stated that their morale is really high.
“We are sad because we have lost our jawan, we give very good training to our jawans and our jawans fight on the ground. Our morale is high and we are ready to face every challenge. We will never back down and are ready to fight for the people. Our jawans are ready and we will give a befitting reply. We have an international border and people give us information and we act on it. We appeal to people to inform the police if they see anything suspicious,” he added.
Security forces on Monday intensified their efforts in the Kathua-Samba region, launching a search operation in the Samba sector near the international border to sanitise the area. The search operation is still going on in Kathua to nab the terrorists after the encounter in the Safiyan (operation).
Authorities have placed the entire region on high alert as the search operation continues to track down potential threats.
Earlier, during counter-terror operation ‘Safiyan’ in the Kathua region, four Jammu and Kashmir police personnel lost their lives in the operation, while two terrorists were gunned down. Security forces recovered war-like stores from the encounter site.
The operation began on March 23, when locals reported the sighting of suspected Pakistani infiltrators in Sanyal.
