Carbine magazines, grenades seized as security forces intensify anti-terror operation in Kathua

A cache of incriminating material including several loaded magazines of M4 carbine assault rifles and a couple of grenades were seized as security forces intensified their search to neutralise a group of infiltrating terrorists in Kathua district of JammuKashmir on Monday officials saidAccording to news agency PTI the operation led by Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat was launched on Sunday evening in the Hiranagar sector It was intensified with additional deployment of commandos drones and sniffer dogs on Monday morning said officialsAn army helicopter was also seen hovering over the area later in the dayThe operation was launched by police with a Special Operations Group after they got intelligence about the presence of terrorists inside a dhok a local term for an enclosure in a nursery of Sanyal village around five kilometres from the Pakistan border the officials quoted above statedThe terrorists launched a barrage of fire at the police party leading to an intense gunfight that lasted for more than half an hour they saidA sevenyearold girl suffered minor injuries when a stray bullet passed close to her arm reported PTI She was admitted in a local hospitalJammuKashmir Operation being led by DGP Nalin PrabhatReinforcements were swiftly dispatched and a manhunt was launched to apprehend the terrorists believed to have infiltrated on March 22 either via the ravine route or through a new tunnelThere was no report of casualties in the initial firing and the area was kept under a tight security cordon throughout the night before the forces moved in at the crack of dawn the officials saidThough there has been no fresh contact with the terrorists the search parties found four loaded magazines of M4 carbine assault rifles two grenades a bulletproof jacket sleeping bags tracksuits several packets of eatables and separate polythene bags the contents of which will be known only when they are opened by the bomb disposal squad the officials informed furtherPrabhat who rushed to the spot immediately after getting information about the presence of the terrorists was seen leading from the front deep inside the forested area on Monday afternoon PTI reportedHolding an AK assault rifle he was seen directing the operation from the groundOne input suggested that two groups of at least five terrorists each had infiltrated into the districtJammuKashmir Infiltration came to light when locals were collecting firewoodLocal villagers meanwhile organised a community kitchen for reporters and the security personnel at the outer cordonAccording to the officials the infiltration came to light after some village women collecting firewood reported seeing around five terrorists According to the women the suspects had sought refuge in the expansive nursery areaAnita Devi a 48yearold villager said heavily armed terrorists caught hold of her husband when they were at the nursery to collect firewoodThe terrorists held my husband at gunpoint and asked me to come close But my husband signalled me to run and I ran One of the terrorists tried to stop me but I started shouting attracting the attention of two more people who were cutting grass she told PTIShe said the incident occurred around 430 pm on Sunday and they all returned home and informed the police about it The terrorists had beards and were wearing commando uniform said DeviJammuKashmir Heavy gunfire heard in regionDistrict Development Councillor Karan Kumar also said heavy gunfire was heard in the regionAn atmosphere of fear has gripped the village by the presence of the terrorists We heard around 250 rounds of gunfire he stated adding that security forces had encircled the entire area to flush out the terroristsKathua has emerged as a major infiltrating route for Pakistanbased terrorists to reach the higher reaches of Udhampur Doda and Kishtwar districts and further to Kashmir region over the past yearAfter 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 18 security personnel dead Thirteen terrorists were also killed in operations in the districtThough the Pir Panjal districts of Rajouri and Poonch witnessed a considerable drop in terror activity in 2024 compared to previous years the series of incidents in Reasi Doda Kishtwar Kathua Udhampur and Jammu from AprilMay last year became a concern for security agenciesAccording to official data nine people were killed in Doda Kathua and Reasi districts five in Kishtwar four in Udhampur three each in Jammu and Rajouri and two in Poonch in 2024This year Kathua was shaken by protests following the mysterious deaths of five individuals in the remote Billawar tehsilThe bodies of 15yearold Varun Singh his paternal uncle Yogesh Singh 32 and his maternal uncle Darshan Singh 40 were discovered in the Ishu nullah in the secluded Malhar area in the higher reaches of Kathua on March 8 The three had gone missing three days earlier while attending a weddingLast month Shamsher 37 and Roshan 45 were found dead in the village of Kohag in Billawar Postmortem reports revealed that both had been strangledWith PTI inputs