Arms, explosives recovered
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, June 2: A militant was killed in a gun battle with security forces at village Dassal Gujran in Rajouri district early this morning as Army, paramilitary forces and police continued searches in anticipation of presence of more militants in the area. Security forces didn’t suffer any casualties.
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The body of the slain ultra has been retrieved from a gorge, where he had taken position during the exchange of fire, officials told the Excelsior but said his identity hasn’t been established so far. His body has been sent to the hospital for post-mortem and identification.
His outfit too wasn’t known but slain militant is believed to be the activist of either Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) or Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit.
All schools in the area were closed by the administration as a precautionary measure, the officials said.
During a cordon-and-search operation carried out by the Army in coordination with police, suspicious movements were noticed in a forest area of Dassal Gujran near Rajouri, the officials said.
The search operation turned into a gun battle when the troops were fired upon, which was retaliated, they said, adding that sporadic firing continued throughout the night.
A search operation was launched in the morning.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Mukesh Singh said one terrorist was neutralised.
The body of the ultra, who had taken position in a gorge during the gun battle, has been retrieved and sent to a hospital in Rajouri, the officials said.
The terrorist is reportedly of Pakistani origin.
Recoveries made from the site of encounter include one AK-56 rifle with seven magazines and 60 rounds, four hand grenades, biscuits and cigarette packets with Pakistan marking, iodine solution, track suit and bags.
According to the “Sarpanch” (village head) of Dassal Kewal, the encounter broke out around 3 am.
The search operation was still on at the time of filing this report. Unconfirmed reports said one or two more terrorists could be hiding in the area when the gun battle started.
However, there was no further contact with the militants.
There have been series of militancy-related incidents in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch this year beginning with New Year.
On January 1 and 2, seven civilians were massacred by the militants at village Dhangri in Rajouri district.
On April 20, five bravehearts of Army fell to bullets of the militants at Mendhar in Poonch while on May 5 five elite para commandos of the troops sacrificed their lives in Kandi area of Rajouri. A terrorist was also killed in Kandi.
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