Search op for terrorists enters 3rd day, extended to new areas in J-K’s Kathua

The encounter in the area began on Thursday morning. (File photo)

Security forces on Saturday extended the ongoing search operation to new areas after the body of the fourth policeman and two slain terrorists were recovered from the scene of a gunfight in a remote forested area in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

Body of head constable Jagbir Singh was retrieved from Ghati Juthana forest in Rajbagh and was shifted to Jammu where a wreath laying ceremony for the deceased was held near police headquarters Gulshan Ground, they said.

The officials said bodies of two Pakistani terrorists, believed to be affiliated with proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit, were also recovered along with war-like stores.

The encounter in the area began on Thursday morning and continued throughout the day on Friday. A total of four policemen and two recently infiltrated terrorists were killed, while the search for other members of the terrorist group is continuing for the third day on Saturday.

Earlier, officials had put the death toll of terrorists at three but the Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat late Friday evening clarified that only two terrorists and four policemen were killed in the encounter.

Bodies of three policemen -- Balwinder Singh Chib, Jaswant Singh and Tariq Ahmed -- were retrieved last evening and their wreath laying ceremony led by the DGP was held at District Police Lines Kathua before their bodies were handed over to their families.

The officials said security forces are sanitising the scene of the encounter while the search operation was extended to adjoining areas including Billawar heights to track down and neutralize the terrorists.

Gunfire and deafening sounds of explosions were also heard near the scene of the encounter this morning as well but it was later clarified that the firing was deliberate by the security forces as part of the counter terror strategy and the blasts were the result of disposing off littered explosive material, the officials said.

“Relentless operations since March 27 have led to the elimination of two terrorists and recovery of war-like stores. The operation continues,” Army’s rising star corps.

The DGP confirmed this was the same group of terrorists which was earlier intercepted in Saniyal village near International border in Hiranagar sector on March 23 evening but managed their escape, resolving that his force will ensure that all terror groups are appropriately dealt with.

Talking to reporters after the wreath laying ceremony in Kathua late Friday evening, the DGP said their loss will not be compensated by words but by deeds.

“Neither the intention of J&K Police has weakened nor is our goal far away from us. Our goal is clear and so the intention. There is no lack of passion as J&K police is the only force in the country which is writing its history in golden words by its bravery and sacrifice.

“We will not sleep or take rest as long as our impure neighbour (Pakistan) and its (terror) organizations are not dealt with appropriately. This war is going on and will continue. There will be no dilution in our intention,” the police chief said.

Prabhat said two Pakistani terrorists were eliminated in the initial gunfight but when the police party was climbing the hill, the terrorists, taking advantage of their dominating position, killed four jawans.

The People's Anti-Fascist Front, a shadow outfit of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), has claimed involvement in the encounter.

Senior CPI(M) leader and legislator M Y Tarigami, meanwhile, extended his condolences to the families of the four police personnel who died in the encounter.

“…violence serves no purpose - it only brings pain and loss,” he wrote on X while paying tributes to the fallen policemen.