Terrorist shot dead, believed to be Pak national

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, May 6

A day after five soldiers were killed in an encounter in the Kandi forest area of Rajouri district, a heavily armed terrorist was shot dead by the security forces early on Saturday.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with the Army Chief, Gen Manoj Pande, visited Rajouri and held a high-level meeting later in the day.

Killed Militant was in army fatigue

Killed terrorist was wearing Army fatigue; AK-56 rifle, four AK-56 magazines, 56 AK rounds, a 9 mm pistol with magazine, 3 grenades seized

Sources said the ammunition suggested that he was highly trained and was believed to be a Pak national

The Army launched “Operation Trinetra” in the thick vegetation area of the Kesari hill of Kandi, a day after five soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an explosion outside a natural cave in which they were hiding.

The rattle of assault rifles was heard on Saturday morning after which the Army announced that a militant was killed in the gunfight while another was believed to have been injured.

It is believed that the terrorists were hiding in vegetation when they were spotted by the Army.

Lt Col Devender Anand, Army PRO, Jammu, said, “In the ongoing joint operation in the Kandi forest in coordination with the J&K police and the CRPF, the Army spotted and pinned down terrorists around 7 am. In the ensuing gun battle, one terrorist was killed and another is believed to have been injured”.

Gunshots were also fired around 1.15 am after a brief contact was established with the terrorists. Rajnath Singh and General Pande visited 25 Infantry Division at Rajouri and reviewed the situation with senior Army commanders.

The Defence Minister paid homage to the martyred soldiers. Sources said he asked the Army to act against terrorists and their supporters in Rajouri and Poonch districts.

While the search and cordon operation continued in the forest area, the other terrorists in the group seem to have fled from the encounter area.

The northern Army commander, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, also reviewed the ongoing operations. He was briefed on all aspects by ground commanders soon after the terrorist was killed.

Havildar Neelam Singh, Nk Arvind Kumar, L/Nk RS Rawat, Paratrooper Pramod Negi and Paratrooper Siddhant Chettri died during the explosion on Friday. L-G Manoj Sinha laid a wreath and paid tributes to the martyrs. “The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs,” the LG said.