A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
A voter turnout of 69.69 percent was recorded in the third and final phase of voting Tuesday in the assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Election Commission said.
The encounter broke out after the terrorists opened fire at the search party personnel, who retaliated, the officials said.
The BJP's Central Election Committee had met on Sunday evening to finalise the party's candidates for the polls.
Security forces and terrorists exchanged fire twice briefly within a span of four hours in a forest area in Jammu and Kashmir's Doda district, officials said on Wednesday.
The hideout was dismantled by police in collaboration with the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) in a meticulously planned operation in Paribag area of Bhadat Saroor, Senior Superintendent of Police, Kishtwar, Khalil Poswal said.
The Udhampur-based northern command is committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, the Army said on Tuesday, as it paid tribute to four soldiers who died in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in Doda district.
Security forces on Sunday intensified their operation to flush out terrorists from the forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on the second day of encounter that has left two soldiers and a civilian dead.
Several deaths were reported across the country due to rain-related incidents like lightning strikes and drowning.
An Army helicopter crashed in a forested area in Jammu and Kashmir Kishtwar district on Thursday, officials said.
With Monday's court order, the total number of proclaimed offenders in Kishtwar stands at 36, they said.
Security forces tightened their cordon around a forest area in the higher reaches of Doda district on Tuesday evening following an encounter with hiding terrorists, officials said.
The encounter took place when the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of J&K Police launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forest belt, some 55 km from Doda town, late Monday evening, the officials said.
The Navy and the Coast Guard had grounded their respective ALH Dhruv fleets in March following two similar incidents involving the platform.
The terrorist who was identified as Mohammad Hussain Khateeb is a resident of Bhaderwah in Doda.
Indian Army soldiers walked for 15 km in continuous snowfall and zero visibility to successfully rescue 16.civilians stranded amid heavy snowfall from the Sinthan Pass in Kishtwar district, Jammu and Kashmir,
A second terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday, raising the death toll during the ongoing three-day search operation in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district to three, officials said.
The Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday booked Varinder Singh, suspected to be the bodyguard of the fugitive radical preacher Amritpal Singh, under the Arms Act in connection with a gun licence issued to him in Kishtwar district, officials said.
Heavy rains lashed parts of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, triggering flash floods and landslides that blocked the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway with hundreds of vehicles stranded, and prompted authorities to shut schools in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts.
The bus was carrying pilgrims from outside Jammu and Kashmir to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine. Katra is the base camp for the pilgrims visiting the famous shrine atop Trikuta hills.
The ongoing crackdown on Khalistan supporters has brought to light a questionable delay in revoking arms licences granted to the armed guards of radical preacher Amritpal Singh in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Suspended Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Nupur Sharma, in the eye of a storm over her remarks against Prophet Muhammad, Monday sought time to appear before the Maharashtra police to record her statement, while more than 300 people have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh in a crackdown on protesters who indulged in violence after the Friday prayers on June 10.
The terrorists have been identified as local residents Ashiq Hussain, a rape accused who was released on bail from Kishtwar Central Jail three weeks ago, and Basharat Hussain.
The district president of NCP for Kishtwar district Parvez Ahmed Tak was on its way to Patnazi when militants fired on him from a hill top in Bonjwa area of Kishtwar district on Monday night, police said.
In a joint operation, army troops and police have busted a militant hideout and recovered a cache of ammunition and explosive material in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
There will be eight more phases of Panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir.
Braving minus six-degree temperature and chilly winds, the India Air Force on Wednesday came to the rescue and airlifted 150 stranded people, including women and children in snow-bound Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime accused in the Delhi high court blast Amir Ali was among two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists killed on Monday in a fierce gunbattle with Army troops in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Indian Air Force on Friday resumed its rescue operations to airlift as many as 190 people trapped in snow-hit Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
A day after the deadly attack outside the Delhi High Court, investigators have traced the Harkat-ul -Jehadi Islami email claiming responsibility for the blast to Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Two top terrorists of Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) were on Sunday gunned down by security forces in a fierce gun-battle in Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The separatist Hurriyat Conference is finished in Jammu and Kashmir but attempts are being made to keep it alive from Pakistan, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said on Monday, adding that the militancy in the region is "on crutches".
"130 Helicopter Unit -- "The Condors", of the IAF stationed at Jammu yet again undertook a demanding operation of rescuing stranded people from the inaccessible villages of Kishtwar district," a defence statement said on Saturday evening.
At least 25 passengers are feared dead in a tragic road accident in the hilly Kishtwar district of Jammu region, according to a senior state government officer.
Three Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists were killed in a day-long gunfight in the mountainous Kishtwar district of Jammu region on Thursday.
Fresh protests against arrests in connection with the Kishtwar communal-strife on Tuesday rocked Jammu, Aknoor, Ramnagar and Samba areas even as curfew was relaxed in several towns of the Jammu region.
A series of flash floods in Himachal Pradesh and the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh killed at least 16 people on Wednesday and damaged several residential houses, standing crops and a mini power plant, officials said.
Four weapons, two magazines, three grenades and some other items were recovered from the slain terrorists.
The encounter started when security forces launched a joint operation in Posta-Potra village in Gundana area, 26 km from Doda town, following information about presence of some terrorists, the officials said.
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