Three Jaish militants killed in gunfight on Jammu highway

Arteev Sharma & Ranjit Thakur

Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 31

Three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants were killed and a policeman injured in an encounter with security forces near the Ban toll plaza in Nagrota area on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway today.

The militants were travelling in a Kashmir-bound truck (JK03F1478) and opened fire at the police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel at the toll plaza, around 25 km from here, around 5.40 am on being intercepted. The injured policeman has been identified as Bhom Raj Singh of the Dessa area in Doda, presently posted at Dansal.

The encounter started soon after militants opened fire on security personnel deployed at toll plaza and tried to sneak into a forest area in Nandini hills.

Additional police and security personnel reached the scene, resulted in the killing of a militant. The highway was shut while the forest belt was cordoned off. Two other militants were killed subsequently.

The police suspected a militant might still be hiding in the forest and a search was on.

The police said the driver and cleaner of the truck, both residents of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, had been arrested, while the security forces recovered huge quantities of arms and ammunition, including sniping weapons, from the vehicle.

“A major terror plot has been foiled by alert security forces by neutralising three suspected Pakistan terrorists. Six weapons were recovered from them,” said J&K DGP Dilbag Singh.

“As per preliminary reports, the group infiltrated from Dayalachak area of Hiranagar sector in Kathua district on Thursday and was picked up by the truck last evening. They were headed to Srinagar,” he said.

Ultras hiding in truck’s cavity

• The militants adopted old modus operandi of using trucks to reach Kashmir, similar to attempt in the 2018 Jajjar Kotli attack
• The truck entered J&K from Lakhanpur on January 29, went back to Hiranagar’s Dayalachak area to pick up militants after a night halt in Jammu on Thursday
• The militants, hiding in a cavity in the truck, used combat (Army uniform) cloth on the front side of the truck to dodge the forces