Pika gun, Chinese-made pistol, grenades found in terror hideout in J-K’s Rajouri: Police

Security forces on Wednesday busted a terror hideout and seized a cache of arms and ammunition in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, a senior police official said.

Jammu and Kashmir police and Indian Army’s Thanamandi-based 38 Rashtriya Rifles busted the hideout during a cordon and search operation in Manyal area under Thanamandi police station jurisdiction.

Chandan Kohli, Rajouri’s senior superintendent of police, said the police received information about the suspected presence of an old terrorist hideout in Manyal.

A team of Rajouri Police’s special operation group and 38 Rashtriya Rifles launched a cordon and search operation late on Tuesday.

“The entire area was kept under cordon and in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, searches were launched during which a terror hideout established under a portion of dense bushes was busted,” Kohli.

The official said one Pika machine gun, a Chinese pistol, a country-made pistol, a magazine of an AK-47 assault rifle, two pistol magazines, 168 Pika rounds, 47 AK rounds, four pistol rounds, two Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) grenades, one binocular, eight ammunition belts, an antenna and a tape recorder have been recovered from the hideout.

“The area is still under search and SDPO Thanamandi Sajjad Khan along with SHO Fareed Ahmed and officers of army’s Rashtriya Rifles are monitoring the operation,” Kohli said.

“Pro-active approach of the forces and close synergy with all the sister agencies is playing its role and nefarious designs of anti-social elements are being foiled,” he added.

In June, a joint team of the army and Kishtwar Police similarly unearthed a terrorists’ hideout and recovered a large cache of arms, ammunition and warlike stores.

The recoveries included one AK 56 rifle, one AK magazine with 27 rounds, one UBGL, one 9mm pistol, one pistol magazine with six rounds.