SRI NAGAR: A militant was killed and another injured in an ongoing encounter with security forces on Saturday in the Kandi forest area of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir, a day after five soldiers were killed in an explosion during the anti-militancy operation in the forest area.
Defence spokesman in Jammu Lt Col Devender Anand said the contact was established with the militants hiding in the Kandi forest area of Rajouri at midnight.
“The militants fired on the security personnel, who retaliated. In the ensuing gunfight, a militant was killed and another injured,” he said.
The security men recovered one AK 56 rifle, 4 magazines, 56 rounds, 1 x 9mm Pistol with magazine, three grenades and one ammunition pouch.
The identity of the slain militant and the outfit to which he owed allegiance is being ascertained.
The cordon and search operation in the forest area is going on, he said.
Army is being assisted by specially trained para-troopers, J&K police and paramilitary personnel during the search operation.
Five soldiers identified as L/Nk Ruchin Singh Rawat R/o Kunigad, Uttrakhand; Paratrooper Siddhant Chettri R/o Pulbazar, West Bengal; Naik Arvind Kumar R/o Marhoon, Himachal Pradesh; Havaldar Neelam Singh R/o Akhnoor, J&K and paratrooper Pramod Negi R/o Shillai, HP were killed in a powerful explosion triggered by militants in the dense forest area during an encounter yesterday.
Army has pressed drones, helicopters and sniffer dogs into service to track down the militants hiding in the forest area.
Army has been conducting a relentless cordon and search operation in the forest area of Rajouri and Poonch to track down the militants involved in the April 20 ambush on an army truck in Tota Gali area of Bhata Dhurian in Poonch district in which five soldiers were killed.
In the April 20 attack, militants had used steel coated bullets to pierce the Bullet Proof (BP) vests of the army men and planted an IED in the army vehicle.
The militant outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad’s offshoot People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) had claimed responsibility for the April 20 attack.
LeT militant killed in Baramulla encounter
An encounter also broke out between militants and security forces during a search operation in Karahama Kunzer area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district in the early hours today.
A police official said a Lashkar militant identified as Abid Wani R/o Kulgam in south Kashmir was killed in the encounter.
He said an AK 47 rifle was recovered from possession of the slain militant.
The combing operation in the area was going on when reports last poured in.
