Jammu: The body of another policeman was sighted using a drone on Friday near the spot where a gunfight took place earlier in a remote forested area in Kathua district, officials said.
This is the fourth cop to have died in the gunfight in which three terrorists are also confirmed to have been killed, officials said.
Heavy firing and deafening sounds of explosions continued for the second day as police assisted by the Army and CRPF moved this morning from different directions, after a night halt to sanitise the Safiyan area, they said.
On Thursday, three suspected Pakistani terrorists of proscribed Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit and an equal number of policemen were found dead after the day-long gunfight while one policeman was reported missing. Seven others, including a deputy superintendent of police, were injured in the gunbattle.
The officials said the security forces resumed the operation with the first light of the day, having the primary focus to retrieve the bodies of the deceased, finding a missing policeman and neutralising any other threat.
They said the joint security parties are moving cautiously to the targeted area as two more terrorists are believed holed up there. They were also presumed dead earlier but their bodies could not be sighted by the drones.
The operation, centred near Jakhole village in the Ghati Juthana area of Rajbagh, against the terrorists started around 8 am on Thursday amid intensified operations led by police against the terrorists who had recently infiltrated from across the International Border in Hiranagar sector, the officials said.
However, it was not immediately clear whether it was the same group that had been evading an earlier cordon in Sanyal forest of Hiranagar or another batch of infiltrated terrorists.
Three terrorists were killed in the onslaught led by the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and assisted by the Army and CRPF.
Adding to the tension, five police personnel, including a Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), were reportedly trapped near the gunfight’s location, adjacent to a rivulet concealed by dense foliage.
However, the SDPO — a DSP rank officer — was evacuated in an injured condition from the scene late Thursday evening, while three of his personal security officers were found dead while the body of another policeman was sighted this morning.
Besides the SDPO, three more policemen were admitted to Kathua hospital and their condition was stated to be stable. Two army personnel were also injured in the operation.
Earlier, a group of terrorists was intercepted on Sunday evening within a ‘dhok’, a local term for an enclosure in a nursery, in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan in the Hiranagar sector.
A subsequent search operation, involving the police, army, NSG, BSF and CRPF, utilised advanced technical and surveillance equipment to track down and neutralize the terrorists.
Despite the massive search operation, the terrorists managed to escape the initial cordon, the officials said, adding it is assumed that the same group could have been possibly spotted near Jakhole, approximately 30 km from the initial encounter site.
The search teams discovered evidence on Monday, including four loaded magazines of M4 carbine, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, food packets, and materials for constructing improvised explosive devices (IEDs) near the Hiranagar encounter site.
The terrorists were moving through the forest area towards the Billawar side when a police party headed by an SDPO moved in after getting specific information, but came under heavy firing, resulting in a day-long gunfight.
Reinforcements from the police, army, and CRPF were immediately deployed to the area, while the special forces of the army were also airdropped to neutralise the terrorists.
Police believe the terrorists infiltrated on Saturday, possibly via a ravine route or a newly constructed tunnel from across the border.
Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat and Inspector General of Police (Jammu Zone) Bhim Sen Tuti have been overseeing the anti-terrorist operation from Kathua for the past four days, the officials said.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front, a proxy outfit of Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), claimed responsibility for the encounter.
Army’s rising star corps, whose troops are involved in the operation, lauded the police personnel involved in the operation.
“Rising Star Corps salutes the valor & indomitable spirit of the brave (J&K) Police personnel who made the supreme sacrifice fighting valiantly during the ongoing OP (operation) Safiyan in Kathua. Their courage and dedication will always be remembered,” the Army said in a post on X.
