Several individuals were detained for questioning as a massive search operation to flush out terrorists entered its third day in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Tuesday, officials said.
The operation was launched on Sunday in Sonnar village near Mandral-Singhpora in the Chatroo belt, triggering a gunfight in which a paratrooper was killed and seven others were injured, mainly due to splinter injuries caused by a sudden grenade attack by the hiding terrorists. While the terrorists managed to escape deep into the forest, security forces busted a well-fortified hideout stocked with a large quantity of winter supplies, including eatables, blankets and utensils.
Senior officers, including Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti, and Inspector General of CRPF, Jammu, R Gopala Krishna Rao, reached the encounter site and are camping in the area along with senior Army officers to supervise the ongoing operation. Meanwhile, a solemn wreath-laying ceremony was held in Jammu on Tuesday morning to pay tributes to the slain Special Forces commando, Havildar Gajendra Singh.
The ceremony at Satwari was led by Brigadier Yudhvir Singh Sekhon, Officiating Chief of Staff, White Knight Corps. Later, the mortal remains of the fallen soldier were dispatched to his native place in Uttarakhand for the last rites, officials said.
