Jammu: Four ‘heavily armed militants’ were killed in a ‘chance’ encounter (military operation) after an HMV (Heavy Motor Vehicle) was intercepted by government forces at a checkpoint on the highway town of Sidhra area in Jammu outskirts on Wednesday, J&K Police said.
As per police, the security and border grid was already tightened given Republic Day when a truck was seen roaming during odd hours on the national highway as the vehicle was stopped at a checkpoint, the driver immediately fled and militants –present inside the vehicle- started firing upon the forces and triggered an encounter.
“The intense firing from both sides continued for about an hour in which the truck caught fire and later the fire tenders pressed in to douse the fire,” according to the Police and the operation was carried out by a joint team of Indian army, CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) and J&K Police.
More Read
Later, four bodies were found and seven AK 47 rifles, one M4 carbine, three pistols including hand grenades, and other materials were also recovered from the encounter site. However, the identities of the four slain remains were ascertained, as per J&K Police.
Moreover, Army has also said that the identities of the neutralized militants remain a matter of investigation and stated that the group was coming from Jammu to Srinagar.
"All the material recovered from the possession of the (slain) terrorists is being scrutinized and unanalyzed are not aware of the group… whether they came from across the border or not, is a matter of investigation. The only thing we can tell right now is that the truck was going from Jammu towards Srinagar side," the senior army officer said
Moreover, the operation comes after the police on Monday defused an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing 15 kilograms in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district.
(Inputs, KNO)
