Army kills one terrorist, captures two along LoC in J&K’s Poonch

A Jammu-based defence spokesperson said that a cordon of the area has been established and a search operation is in progress

The army killed a terrorist and captured two others alive as they foiled an infiltration bid by the armed insurgents along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, officials said.

On the intervening night of 8/9 April 2023, alert troops of Indian Army on the LoC in the Poonch Sector(J&K), detected some suspicious movement of a group of individuals (Representative Image)

“On Saturday at around 2215 hours (10.15pm), alert troops deployed on the LoC) in the Poonch sector observed a suspicious movement of a group (three individuals) close to the Line of Control,” said Jammu-based defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand.

He added that around midnight, the group crossed the LoC and infiltrated the Indian side. “At approx 0200 hours (2am) as the group approached the fence, the alert troops challenged the infiltrators. They engaged in a fire exchange in which one intruder was shot dead, while the other two managed to run into the jungle taking advantage of the thick foliage and rocky outcrop.”

The area was immediately cordoned off to prevent their escape across the LoC, he said, adding a search operation was launched at the first light on Sunday wherein the dead body of one intruder was recovered at the encounter site.

“As the search progressed in the jungle, one intruder was apprehended alive in wounded condition. In the subsequent search the third intruder was also apprehended alive” added Lt Col Anand.

In the search operation so far, three bags with fourteen packets of narcotics weighing nearly 17 kgs, Pakistan currency, some documents, and eatables have been recovered, officials said.

“During preliminary questioning, the two intruders who have been apprehended alive, informed that they (all three) were residents of Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (POJK) and belong to Maidan Mohalla in Village Chanjal,” said the spokesperson.

With their quick action, Indian Army troops have prevented a major infiltration bid of a narco terror group that had the potential of disturbing peace in the Poonch and Rajouri districts, said an army spokesperson.

On April 3, police seized a cache of arms and ammunition, suspected to have been dropped by a Pakistani drone, in Rakh Barutia village of Vijaypur in the border district of Samba.

The consignment was dropped close to the under-construction All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Vijaypur. Three China-made pistols, six magazines, 48 bullets and four Chinese hand grenades were recovered from the packet.

During the intervening night of March 31 and April 1, Border Security Force (BSF) fired at a Pakistani drone along the international border in the Ramgarh sector of the Samba district.

On March 29 around 9.30pm, there was a powerful IED blast near a border police post in Sanyal of Hiranagar sector of Kathua district. The blast that took place barely 4 km from the zero line in the Hiranagar sector, around 9.30pm, was heard in four to five villages along the border.

It may be stated that when snow begins melting in the mountain passes, Pakistan begins shifting its focus to the LoC to push terrorists, drugs, and weapons from traditional routes in Rajouri and Poonch.