A search operation continued in the dense forests of Keshwan and adjoining areas in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district for the fourth day on Monday, a day after an Army officer was killed in a gunfight with terrorists.
The security personnel have been scouring the forest area for over four days, looking for the terrorists who abducted and killed two Village Defence Guards (VDGs) last Thursday. On Sunday, an encounter broke out when joint search parties of the Army and police intercepted the terrorists around 11 am in the Keshwan forest area.
The exchange of fire went on for more than four hours. A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar of the Army's 2 Para, was killed and three more soldiers were injured in the gunfight. There has been no fresh contact with the terrorists since Sunday's encounter, officials said.
Three to four terrorists, responsible for the killings, are still holed up in the area and a massive search operation is underway to neutralise them, they said.
Thick Foliage And Challenging Topography Pose A Challenge
The officials added that thick foliage and challenging topography pose a challenge for the security personnel relentlessly chasing the trail to hunt down the terrorists.
The two Village Defence Guards were abducted and killed by terrorists on Thursday in the upper areas of Kishtwar district. Their bodies were found near a rivulet in the Pondgwari region of the Keshwan belt.
Security forces have ramped up their efforts, using drones and sniffer dogs, while a helicopter was seen flying over the forested area, they said. "Two VDG members, Nazir Ahmed and Kuldeep Kumar from Ohli-Kuntwara, went missing in the upper reaches while grazing livestock," a police spokesperson said.
Later, photographs of their bodies were circulated on social media. The incident has been widely condemned by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and leaders from the People's Democratic Party, Congress, and the BJP.
Officials reported that both the victims had gone to graze cattle in the Munzla Dhar forest area of Adhwari but did not return. Police teams initiated a search after reports of their abduction and subsequent killing by terrorists.
"My brother and Nazir were abducted and killed by terrorists. They were village defence guards and had gone to graze cattle as usual," Kumar''s brother Prithvi, told news agency PTI.