Jammu: A 7-year-old girl suffered minor injuries in exchange of fire between terrorists and security forces in Sanyal Hiranagar in Kathua district on Sunday, officials said.
They said the girl Anchal Kumari (7), daughter of Nago of Bihar at present W.NO. 11, Hiranagar near Radha Swami Ashram got minor injury and was shifted to nearby hospital.
A gunfight broke out on Sunday after security forces intercepted a group of terrorists who had infiltrated and taken shelter in a dense nursery near the International Border in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The encounter started when the Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a search operation in the nursery in Sanyal village, one-and-a-half kilometres from the border in Hiranagar sector in Kathua district, after receiving information in the evening about the presence of terrorists in the area, the officials said.
They said the hiding terrorists opened heavy fire on the police party, which retaliated.
There was no report of any casualty in the initial exchange of fire, which went on for nearly half an hour. Reinforcements from police, Army and paramilitary forces were rushed to the area, the officials said.
The cordon around the nursery has been strengthened and efforts are on to neutralise the terrorists, they said.
Some village women, who had gone to collect firewood from the nursery, spotted the terrorists, said to be five in number. It is believed that they infiltrated from across the border last night and had taken shelter in the sprawling area, according to the officials.
A seven-year-old girl, Anchal Kumar, suffered injuries and was shifted to a local hospital. However, the exact cause of her injuries is not yet known, the officials said.
Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat is at the spot and supervising the anti-terrorist operation, they said.
“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 Saniyal Hiranagar. Operations in progress,” the Army’s Rising Star Corps said in a post on X.
District Development Councillor Karan Kumar said heavy gunfire rocked the entire area after security forces launched the operation to track down the terrorists who were found hiding in the nursery.
Meanwhile, a terrorist hideout was unearthed in a remote forest area in Doda district, leading to recovery of a pistol and some ammunition while as a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from a hideout in Poonch district, officials said on Sunday.
The hideout was unearthed during a joint search operation by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of local police and Army in Bhalra forest area of Bhaderwah on Saturday, the officials said.
A pistol, its three magazines and six rounds and 25 rounds of AK assault rifle were recovered from the hideout, they said, adding no one was arrested during the operation which was conducted on a specific intelligence input following reports of suspicious movement.
Meanwhile, the officials said a joint search operation by police, army and CRPF is also underway in Gurinal, Thathri and Chatroo forest in adjoining Kishtwar district.
The operation was launched on Thursday after some villagers shared information about the presence of suspected terrorists in the higher reaches, they said.
However, the officials said no contact was established with the suspected persons so far.
Meanwhile, in another operation, security forces on Sunday busted a hideout near Sangla top area of Surankote in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Officials said that a joint operation was launched by Romeo Force, along with Poonch Police in the general area of Sangla in Surankote, Poonch in the wake of suspicious movement seen in the region.
During searches, three AK rifles with 23 magazines, pistol rounds, seven grenades, time bomb, drugs and other explosive items were recovered from the hideout found near Sangla top, officials said.
