An Army colonel commanding a battalion, a major and a Jammu and Kashmir deputy superintendent of police were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in the higher reaches of Kokorenag area in the valley while one soldier was missing, officials said on Wednesday.
Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) terrorist Talib Hussain Shah was briefly associated with a political party and also posed himself as a media-person, Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said on Monday.
A joint operation was launched by the Army and police in the Sindhara top area of the Surankote belt on Monday night which led to a firefight, they said.
The frequent use of these assault rifles by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, according to experts, is a consequence of the US Army leaving behind arms and ammunition while pulling out from Afghanistan in 2021 and is a cause of concern due to the more lethal nature of the steel bullets used.
Additional director general of police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the operation was launched based on specific input and is currently underway.
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.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
Four security personnel, including two army officers and a police officer, lost their lives in the gunfight, which Kumar said is over.
More than a dozen Mountain Rescue Teams assisted thousands of pilgrims during this year's Amarnath pilgrimage in the south Kashmir Himalayas, officials said on Monday, as the annual yatra concluded with more than 5.10 lakh pilgrims offering prayers at the cave shrine.
The entire area has been cordoned off while drones and sniffer dogs are being used to sniff out the terrorists that might be hiding in the area, they said.
Besides disclosing in their affidavits, candidates have to prominently declare criminal cases they are facing, if any, thrice in newspapers in print as well on television, he said, adding that political parties too have to publish within three days of nomination why a candidate with criminal background was selected. "You (political parties) have to tell the public whether you did not get any (other) candidate and why was it necessary to select them (those with criminal background)," he said.
A terrorist holed up in a border village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district was killed by security forces on Wednesday in a more than 15-hour operation during which his partner was also shot dead and a CRPF jawan lost his life, officials said.
Security forces sieved through the dense forests of Gadole in Kashmir Valley's Anantnag district for the seventh day on Tuesday, one of Jammu and Kashmir's longest anti-militancy operations that has claimed the lives of three officers and a soldier.
A massive search operation is underway to flush out the terrorists, who are believed to have recently infiltrated from Pakistan, they said.
Sharma, who held the post of DGP in the sensitive state for four years till July, was replaced by a local IPS officer, Kuldeep Khuda.
The gunfight, lasting more than an hour, took place at Jaddan Bata village in the Kastigarh area around 2 am when the terrorists opened fire on a temporary camp established in a government school for the ongoing search operation, they said.
Senior Central Reserve Police Force officers, Jammu and Kashmir police officers and others paid tribute to the 40 CRPF personnel who were killed this day in a 2019 terror attack at the Lathpora Pulwama war memorial on Tuesday, February 14, 2023.
ADGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said both the terrorists had escaped from from a cordon and search operation last week in nearby Magam area.
A week after a Pakistani prisoner was fatally attacked by a fellow inmate inside the Kotbalwal jail in Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir director general prisons Saturday visited the high security jail.
Political parties and leaders wait with bated breath for the Haryana and Jammu-Kashmir assembly poll results on Tuesday.
He said law enforcement agencies are cracking down on those involved in recruitment for terrorist groups as well as narcotic dealers and smugglers.
'With today's operation at Khulchohar area of Anantnag by Police along with Local RR unit in which 2 Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists including one district commander and one HM commander Masood were neutralised, Doda district in Jammu Zone becomes totally militancy free once again,' Singh said.
Pasha, who had earlier received training in making bombs in Bangladesh, provided training to the Mangaluru blast case accused during their stay in a jail in Karnataka.
A policeman was also injured in the gunfight that broke out in Bajaad village in the Gandoh area around 9:50 am.
On Monday, five Army personnel were killed and five injured when heavily armed terrorists hurled a grenade and opened indiscriminate fire on two army vehicles around 3.30 pm on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar mountainous road near Badnota village, about 150 km from the district headquarters Kathua.
With local militancy gaining ground in the Valley, S P Vaid, a highly-decorated police officer who helped tackle the recent unrest in the region, was on Wednesday appointed the new Director General of Police of Jammu and Kashmir.
Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Anand Jain and senior officers of the Army and intelligence agencies visited the ambush spot in the Surankote area. The Army also conducted aerial surveillance using a helicopter, they said.
According to the official, two Punjab residents were arrested following the recovery of one of the biggest narcotic haul this year from Banihal area along Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
Security forces are using drones and helicopters for surveillance of the dense forest area where terrorists are believed to be holed up since Wednesday after killing two Army officers and a deputy superintendent of police in the initial exchange of fire, the officials said.
Inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani was playing cricket with local boys at the Eidgah ground when he was shot by terrorists, the officials said.
The DGP said all the suspicious elements should be kept under check to foil their attempts.
Three Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, the police said.
'A threatened people should not be forcibly held in a place where their lives may be at risk.'
Three Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were killed in the Drach area of Shopian, while a Lashkar-e-Tayiba militant was killed in the Moolu area of the south Kashmir district, the police said.
The L-G will take decisions on police, officers of all-India services such as the IAS and the IPS, and giving sanction for prosecution in various cases.
Terming Naxals the biggest human rights violators, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said security forces have been carrying out 'offensive operations' instead of defensive against the insurgents and have achieved big successes in recent times.
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.
42 terrorists, 7 civilians and 15 security personnel have lost their lives since May 15.
The DGP said the conspiracy was hatched by one Pakistan-based terrorist Arjumand alias Hamza Burhan who got in touch with a local mastermind Danish Ahmad Malla to carry out the attack.
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