Hiranagar encounter: No fresh exchange of fire with terrorists

Security forces, on Monday, recovered three magazines of US made M4 carbine, four packets of explosives and food items from Dolka forest near Sanyal village in Hiranagar sector of Kathua district, said people familiar with the development.

“Recoveries of three M4 magazines, four packets of explosives and food items besides a pair of shoes amply suggest that the terrorists fled the spot after being engaged by the troops in firing on Sunday,” said a senior police officer.

Security forces, on Monday, intensified their search operations to track down the group of four to five Jaish terrorists hiding in the jungles of Sanyal area.

On Monday, tractors with bullet proof canopy, drones and sniffer dogs were deployed to trace terrorists.

The commandos of the elite National Security Guards also joined anti-terror operations on Tuesday.

Army, BSF, CRPF and SOG of the Jammu and Kashmir Police were already engaged since first light of Monday, said the officer.

However, there was no fresh exchange of fire between the terrorists and the security forces on Monday.

During searches, security forces have also found some footprints in the jungle, believed to be of terrorists.

The operation was launched after a couple encountered the terrorists inside a jungle near Sanyal village on Sunday.

The couple--Ganesh Dass and his wife Anita Devi had gone inside the jungle to collect woods.

They, however, managed to fled from the jungle and had raised an alarm informing police.

The village is approximately five km from the International Border with Pakistan.

Intelligence officials suggested that the group infiltrated on Saturday and there could be probably two groups of five to six terrorists.

A seven-year-old girl Anchal had sustained minor injuries when a stray bullet passed close to her arm and was shifted to a local hospital.

“Based on Intelligence Input regarding presence of terrorists, a Joint Operation has been launched by @JmuKmrPolice & troops of #RisingStar Corps on 23 Mar 25 in general area Saniyal #Hiranagar. Operations in Progress,” Rising Star Corps_IA wrote on X.

On March 12, a soldier was injured in Pak’s sniper fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in Kalsian area of Nowshera sector in Rajouri district.

On February 21, India and Pakistan had held a brigadier level flag meeting at Poonch and agreed to hold the truce deal.

The Indian side had conveyed that though India wants peace on the borders but if Pakistan continued its mischievous activities, Indian Army reserved the right to retaliate.

Two army personnel, including captain Karamjit Singh Bakshi, were killed in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attack carried out by suspected terrorists in the Akhnoor sector of the Jammu region on February 11.

Two army personnel were also injured in separate incidents of small arms firing from across the LoC in Rajouri and Poonch districts on February 10 and 14, while two more army personnel were injured in separate landmine explosions in Poonch in first week of February.

On February 25, 2021, both the nuke countries had renewed mutually brokered truce deal following DGMO level talks.

On February 13, close on the heels of a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Bhimber Gali sector along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector, India had hit back strongly inflicting heavy losses to the Pak army in Krishna Ghati sector.

An intelligence official confided to HT that Pakistan has been trying to vitiate peace along the LoC by resorting to cross border firing, sniper fire and carrying out IED blasts with an aim to target Indian soldiers.

On February 10, General Officer Commanding of the Jammu-based White Knight Corps, Lieutenant General Navin Sachdeva, had reviewed “hostile activities” along the LoC in Rajouri district.

Meanwhile, chief minister Omar Abdullah said, “As far I know, contact (with terrorists) is not yet established. The search and cordon has been launched due to a suspicious movement. Let us monitor the developments. Such incidents have happened in Rajouri and Poonch too.Militancy cannot end without keeping everyone together”.