Arteev Sharma  

12 security personnel injured in Reasi forest gunfight with infiltrators

Security personnel take position during the encounter at Kakryal in Reasi on

Three armed militants were today gunned down by the security forces in a day-long encounter that broke out in the morning at Dhirti village, near Kakryal area of Reasi district.

Twelve security personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Mohan Lal Sharma, two CRPF officers and three para-commandos, were injured in the gunfight. Except one, all of them are stated to be out of danger.

The operation, which lasted 33 hours, was launched on Wednesday morning after three militants fired at the police at Sai Cafeteria, near Daami Bridge, and escaped into the forests in Jhajjar Kotli area along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in Jammu district.

“All three militants have been eliminated in a joint operation by the J&K Police, Army and the CRPF. Their bodies have been recovered along with ammunition, including three AK-47s, pistols and hand grenades,” said SDS Jamwal, Inspector General of Police, Jammu, adding the trio belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad and were part of the fresh group of infiltrators.

But the Army said they belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba. “Both the JeM and the LeT come from same umbrella,” the IGP said.

General Officer Commanding (GOC), Uniform Force, Maj Gen Arvind Bhatia said, “Though the militants didn’t harm any civilian, they tried to create terror as they wanted to move out of the area.”

The security forces got a lead on Thursday morning when militants entered a house at Dhirti village and asked for food. “The house owners had no food readily available and a militant gave them Rs 2,000 to get some food from the market. When the family came out, they informed the CRPF men, who launched the operation,” said Balwant Singh, village lambardar and eyewitness.

The encounter site is very close to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine situated on the Trikuta Hills. After establishing contact with militants this morning, security forces within one hour killed two of the three militants and recovered their bodies.

The third militant, however, escaped to a nearby forest area. Security forces sanitised the area for several hours, but couldn’t trace him. They thought the militant might have moved to Jhajjar Nala.

“The militant was, however, hiding near the houses in thick vegetation. He was keeping a vigil on the movement of security forces. After the para unit of the Army returned after sanitising the area and started relaxing in a maze field, the militant opened fire on us,” said SS Manhas, a police Sub-Inspector who was part of the group of security personnel who were fired upon.

“A colleague from the J&K Police was first one to fire back on the militant,” he said.

“The militant again managed to go back around 50 m, but the assault from the security forces was so intense that he couldn’t survive for long,” he added.

Thursday.  

Amir Karim Tantray & Arteev Sharma

Courtesy: Tribune: 14th Sep, 2018