3 of family escape, sound cops leading to gun fighting
Fresh infiltration suspected from IB on Saturday night
3 AK rifles, IED, grenades recovered in Poonch
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 23: An encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists at forward village of Sanyal, just about four kilometers from the International Border, in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district this evening after three civilians including a woman observed movement of the infiltrators near a dhok in sprawling Nursery.
A seven-year-old girl was reportedly injured in the gun fighting but there were no further reports of any casualties as Jammu and Kashmir Police, Special Operations Group, Army and paramilitary forces have surrounded the entire area including the Nursery where the terrorists were spotted to ensure that they don’t manage to escape taking cover of darkness.
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While there was no official version shared immediately, a woman Anita Devi who along with her husband Ganesh Kumar and brother-in-law first spotted the terrorists while collecting woods in the Nursery, described their numbers as five though generally the ultras infiltrate in the group of three. The International Border from Pakistan is just about four kilometers from village Sanyal where movement of terrorists was spotted.
Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat along with IGP Jammu Zone Bhim Sen Tuti and DIG Jammu-Kathua range Shiv Kumar Sharma are camping at the spot supervising the operation to eliminate the terrorists.
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A woman, who along with her husband and brother-in-law had gone to fetch woods from Sanyal, informed police that they observed movement of terrorists and became alert. She said the terrorists tried to catch hold of her husband and brother-in-law and threatened to kill them if they inform anyone about their movement. However, the civilians managed to run away and informed Village Defence Guards (VDGs) and police.
The terrorists, as per the woman, were equipped with weapons and were five in numbers.
Police and SOG immediately launched the operation leading to brief gunfight near the Nursery in Sanyal village of Hiranagar sector.
Sources said the hiding terrorists opened a heavy volume of fire on observing the police party which retaliated. However, there was no report of casualty in the initial exchange of intense firing which continued for nearly half-an-hour, the officials said, adding reinforcements from police, Army and paramilitary forces were rushed to the area to neutralize the terrorists.
The woman confirmed presence of five terrorists in the area. They are believed to have infiltrated from across the border during the previous night and had taken shelter inside the sprawling area for further movement towards the forests but were trapped by police.
A seven-year-old girl Anchal Kumari suffered injuries and was shifted to the local hospital but the exact cause of her injury was not known immediately.
The terrorists are believed to have infiltrated on Saturday via either the ravine route or through a newly created tunnel. The intense exchange of gunfire lasted nearly half an hour.
One of the inputs also suggested that two groups of 5-6 terrorists each may have infiltrated on Saturday but there was no confirmation of the report so far.
Kathua has emerged as a major infiltrating route for Pakistan-based terrorists to reach the higher reaches of Udhampur, Doda and Kishtwar districts and further to Kashmir over the past year, which is evident from a series of terror incidents.
After carrying out deadly attacks in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch over the past four years, terror activities spread to six other districts in the Jammu region in 2024, leaving a total of 44 people, including 18 security personnel martyred and 13 terrorists, dead.
Though the Pir Panjal districts of Rajouri and Poonch witnessed a considerable drop in terror activities in 2024 compared to the previous years, the series of incidents in Reasi, Doda, Kishtwar, Kathua, Udhampur and Jammu from April-May onwards last year came as a concern for the security agencies.
To counter the threat and thwart the attempts of Pakistan-based terror handlers to spread terrorism to peaceful areas, the officials said, the security forces have started relentless operations.
According to official data, Doda, Kathua and Reasi districts recorded nine killings each followed by Kishtwar (five), Udhampur (four), Jammu and Rajouri (three each) and Poonch (two) in 2024. While 18 security personnel were martyred, 13 terrorists were also killed. This year, Kathua was also rocked by protests after the mysterious death of five people in the remote Billawar tehsil.
The bodies of 15-year-old Varun Singh, his paternal uncle Yogesh Singh (32) and maternal uncle Darshan Singh (40) were found in the Ishu nullah in the remote Malhar area in the higher reaches of Billawar in Kathua on March 8. They had gone missing on March 5 while attending a wedding ceremony.
On February 16, the bodies of Shamsher (37) and Roshan (45) were found in Kohag village in Billawar. Meanwhile, Army’s Rising Star Corps wrote on X, “based on intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a joint operation has been launched by police, and troops of Rising Star Corps on March 23 in general area Sanyal Hiranagar. Operations in progress.”
District Development Councillor Karan Kumar said heavy gunfire rocked the entire area after security forces launched an operation to track down terrorists who were found hiding in the nursery.
The officials said the cordon around the nursery was strengthened and efforts are on to neutralize the terrorists.
In June last year, two terrorists were killed and a CRPF jawan was martyred in an encounter in Hiranagar sector. In March 2023, terrorists had lobbed a grenade on Border Police Post at Sanyal causing injuries to a jawan.
There has been panic among the people in Sanyal and surrounding areas following movement of the terrorists. People in the border areas remained indoors.
Meanwhile, security forces today busted a major terrorist hideout in a remote forest area in Poonch district, leading to the recovery of a huge cache of arms and explosives.
The hideout was unearthed during a joint operation by Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of local police in Sarabara near Sangla top during the day-long operation.
They said three AK assault rifles, 23 magazines, 922 rounds, seven grenades, four Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), one watch-type timer mechanism, 19 detonators, three meters of cortex, one four-inch cylinder, one combat dress, 10 centimeter safety fuze and 200 grams of heroin were recovered from the hide out.
The IEDs, grenades, detonators, timer device , cortex and safety fuze were later destroyed on the spot by the experts of the Bomb Disposal Squad.
However, no one was arrested during the operation.
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