Srinagar, Jan 20 — Several individuals have been detained for questioning as a massive search operation against militants entered its third day in the upper reaches of the Chenab region’s Kishtwar district on Tuesday, officials said.
The detentions were made on Monday afternoon in connection with a militant hideout busted during an ongoing operation in the Chatroo belt. The hideout, located at an altitude of over 12,000 feet, was stocked with supplies sufficient to sustain militants through the winter months.
Utensils and winter supplies recovered from a militant hideout busted during an anti-militancy operation in Kishtwar.
“Security forces are trying to identify the overground workers who assisted the terrorists in procuring and transporting large quantities of rations, pulses, utensils and other supplies,” an official said, adding that the stock was “enough for at least four persons during winter.”
The operation was launched on Sunday in Sonnar village near Mandral-Singhpora following intelligence inputs, triggering a gunfight. One Special Forces paratrooper was killed, while seven others were injured, mostly due to splinter injuries caused by a grenade allegedly lobbed by militants.
“The terrorists managed to escape into the dense forest area, but their well-fortified hideout, packed with winter stock including eatables, blankets and utensils, was destroyed,” an official said.
Senior officers, including Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Bhim Sen Tuti, and Inspector General of CRPF, Jammu, R Gopala Krishna Rao, visited the encounter site and are camping in the area along with Army officers to supervise the operation.
Meanwhile, a wreath-laying ceremony was held in Jammu on Tuesday to pay tributes to the slain paratrooper, Havildar Gajendra Singh. The ceremony at Satwari was led by Brigadier Yudhvir Singh Sekhon, Officiating Chief of Staff, White Knight Corps. The mortal remains were later sent to the soldier’s hometown in Uttarakhand for last rites, officials said.
Officials said multiple teams of the Army, police and paramilitary forces, supported by drones and sniffer dogs, are combing the area despite difficult terrain, thick vegetation and steep slopes that have restricted visibility and movement.
A group of two to three militants, believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, is suspected to be hiding in the area.
Security operations have been intensified across the Jammu region ahead of Republic Day amid intelligence inputs about attempts by Pakistan-based handlers to push fresh infiltration, officials said.