The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
J&K sees fourth militant attack since Sunday as gunbattle breaks out in Doda
Overnight encounter in Kathua ends, two militants and CRPF jawan killed
AN OVERNIGHT gunbattle in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua district ended Wednesday after a second militant who was holed up in a village was killed and a Crpfjawanlosthislife,policesaid.
Hours later, in Doda district’s Kota Top area near Gandoh, a special police officer was injured after a joint team of police and paramilitary forces came under fire from militants — the fourth such incident in Jammu since Sunday, when a pilgrim bus was attacked.
This team had launched a search operation in the area after militants targeted a joint police and Army outpost in Doda’s tourist spot of Chattergala on Tuesday night, injuring five soldiers and a special police officer.
The Kota Top gunbattle was on at press time and reinforcements were rushed to the area. It was unclear if the militants at Kota Top were those who had attacked the Chattergala outpost.
Meanwhile in Kathua, police andparamilitaryforcescontinued searches Wednesday, suspecting the presence of more militants. The gunfight had erupted after two militants barged into a house in Saida village on Tuesday night. Onemilitantwaskilledsoonafter. Bothslainmilitantswerebelieved to have entered Jammu &
Kashmir through the Hiranagar sector from Pakistan. Police identified the deceased CRPF constable as Kabir Das Uikey, a resident ofmadhyapradesh’schhindwara.
During the encounter, Kathua SSP Anayat Ali and Jammusamba-kathua DIG Sunil Gupta had a narrow escape as bullets fired by the militants hit the windscreen of their vehicles.
The soldiers and the SPO injured in Chattergala were admitted to an Army’s hospital in Udhampur. Chattergala and adjoining Kathua’s Sarthal are both touristdestinations.aftertuesday night’s attack, movement of civilian vehicles on the Bhaderwahpathankot road was suspended.
On Sunday, terrorists had opened fire on a pilgrim bus in Reasi district’s Pouni area, killing 9peopleandinjuring38—setting offthesuddenspurtinmilitantviolence on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath for the third time. This also comes with Assembly polls round the corner and the 52-day Amarnath pilgrimage to the Kashmir Valley set to begin from June 29.
Security agencies feel that the back-to-back attacks at places which are 200-300 km apart, and include both mountainous areas and plains of Jammu province, are meant to give an impression of militants’ presence in areas of the UT that have so far been considered peaceful.