Dharamsala, December 7
A joint search operation by the Army, Himachal and Punjab Police is on in the Bhadroah forest, near Damtal, to track down two armed terrorists spotted near the Army firing range in Nurpur area yesterday.
The Army has cordoned off the entire area and launched a search operation along with the police force from Himachal and Punjab. The Bhadroah forest being very dense, it is suspected that the militants are hiding in the area.
Yesterday a villager, a daily wage worker, was accosted by two youths in their early twenties to the Army firing range. The villager said the two carrying guns went towards the forest area.
Mr Sanjay Kundu, SP, Kangra, said the villager immediately alerted Army personnel at the firing range, who swung into action and cordoned off the area. Barriers have been put up at all exit points in Damtal, Dhangu Pir, the bus stand and the railway station.
The Bhadroah forest, located at a distance of about 12 km from Indora, lies between the New Chakki bridge and the Dhangu Pir bridge, close to Punjab. Army sources said the two youths spoke fluent Hindi without a Punjabi or pahari accent.
Though there has been a spill-over of militancy from Jammu and Kashmir into Chamba district, which shares a boundary of 167 with the trouble-torn state of Jammu and Kashmir, rarely have militants been spotted from Kangra district. The presence of suspected militants close to the Air Force station in Pathankot has put the Army and other security agencies on the alert.
The Air Force station lies on one side of the Chakki river with the Bhadroah forest on the other. The terrorists have often targeted defence establishments in Jammu and Kashmir. Hence, the Army and police authorities are on high alert.
In the past some J and K militants and their aides have taken shelter in Kangra area. A Hizbul Mujahideen militant was arrested from a remote village in Baijnath, while another impersonating as an Army officer, was arrested from Jwali area.
The Nurpur police has arrested 24 Kashmiri shawl vendors and interrogated 50 Kashmiri labourers working in the area. The S.D.M., Nurpur, has sent the vendors to judicial custody till December 12. They have been arrested under Sections 41-2 and 109.
