JAMMU: A joint team of the Army, CRPF and police launched massive search operations in the forests of Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday morning following inputs about suspicious movement in the areas. On Sunday evening, three suspects were detained for questioning from Rajouri’s Bahrote-Budhal area, where a terrorist was killed during a gunfight with security forces on November 17.
“Searches were carried out in Muradpur, Bathuni, Ghai Bhawal (Sunderbani), Tatta Pani in Kalakote, Ghambir Mughlan in Manjakote and Rajdhani-Thanamandi in Rajouri.Similar operations were conducted in Gursai, Jabranwali Gali, Saruti and Ari villages situated close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Poonch district,” said an official source, adding that the move followed inputs about suspicious movement in the forest areas.
Combing operations were intensified in the twin frontier districts of Rajouri and Poonch following a fierce gunfight in Rajouri’s Bajimaal area on November 22-23, in which five Army personnel, including two Captains, lost their lives while two Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, including an IED expert and sniper, were killed. The slain terrorists had been trained in Afghanistan.
The two districts have become a hotbed of terror activities for a while with terrorists and their Pakistan-based handlers constantly trying to disrupt peace in the region. In a recent operation on December 2, security forces averted a major tragedy by timely detecting a 5kg IED in Topa Hilltok area of Darhal and destroying it.