Gunfight in Kathua Enters Second Day, Death Toll Rises to Seven
Kathua, Mar 28, KNT: Heavy gunfire and powerful explosions echoed for the second straight day in the Safiyan area of Kathua district, as police, assisted by the Army and CRPF, resumed their operation on Friday morning following a night-long pause to secure the region.
Security officials said a fourth policeman’s body was spotted using drones near the encounter site, raising the total police death toll to four. The ongoing operation has also resulted in the killing of three militants, while a police officer remains missing.
The deadly standoff began on Thursday morning when security forces engaged three suspected Pakistani militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) outfit in an intense day-long gunfight near Jakhole village in the Ghati Juthana area of Rajbagh. By the end of the day, three policemen had lost their lives, while a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and six others sustained injuries.
At dawn, security forces resumed their search operation, focusing on retrieving bodies, locating the missing policeman, and eliminating any remaining threats. Officials suspect that the militants may have infiltrated recently from Pakistan via the International Border in Hiranagar. However, it is still unclear whether this group managed to evade an earlier cordon in Sanyal forest or if they are part of a separate infiltration attempt.
The Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, along with Army and CRPF personnel, led the offensive, successfully neutralizing three militants.
Meanwhile, officials reported that five police personnel, including an SDPO, were trapped in the thickly forested encounter zone near a rivulet. The SDPO, a DSP-rank officer, was later rescued in an injured condition on Thursday evening, but three of his personal security officers (PSOs) were found dead. The body of the fourth officer was recovered on Friday morning.
Apart from the injured SDPO, three more policemen were admitted to a hospital in Kathua, where their condition is said to be stable. Additionally, two Army personnel sustained injuries during the encounter.
Top security officials, including Director General of Police (DGP) Nalin Prabhat and Inspector General of Police (IGP) Jammu Zone Bhim Sen Tuti, have been supervising the counter-militancy operation from Kathua for the past four days.
Security forces have also recovered vital evidence from a suspected militant hideout in Hiranagar, including four loaded M4 carbine magazines, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, food packets, and materials for making improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Officials believe the militants were moving through the forest towards Billawar when a police team, led by an SDPO, launched an operation based on specific intelligence inputs. However, the police party came under heavy fire, triggering a fierce gunfight.
Following the attack, reinforcements from the police, Army, and CRPF were rushed to the area, with special forces of the Army airdropped to intensify efforts to neutralize the militants.
