JAMMU: Three J&K policemen and an equal number of suspected Pakistani terrorists were killed Thursday in a gunfight that erupted when security forces searching the forested Sufain area in Kathua district of Jammu division came under fire from gunmen hiding in the woods.
DSP Dheeraj Katoch, two other policemen, and an Army soldier from 1 PARA (Special Forces) were wounded. The area has been cordoned off and reinforcements deployed.
According to official sources, the slain policemen includes a head constable and two constables. The bodies were yet to be evacuated from the site as the operation continues.
Grenades and rocket fire rocked the area with multiple explosions. “The gunfire continued throughout the day,” an official said late at night, adding that the wounded security personnel were taken to Kathua and Jammu hospitals, where they are reported to be in stable condition.
The attackers are believed to be the same group that managed to escape after a brief gunfight Sunday evening near Sanyal village in Hiranagar sector, close to the Pakistan border. Sufain’s forests are about 35km from Sanyal village.
The security forces had closed in on the terrorists hiding in a remote, mountain hut — one of many built by nomadic herders who roam the area with their livestock. But they slipped away, triggering a manhunt across the region.
The search entered its fourth day, with the Army, NSG, BSF, CRPF, and J&K police deploying advanced surveillance tools, bulletproof vehicles, UAVs, drones, and sniffer dogs.
On Monday, search teams found four loaded magazines of an M4 carbine, two grenades, a bulletproof jacket, sleeping bags, tracksuits, and materials for making IEDs. A breakthrough came the next day when a woman in Dinga Amb village reported seeing two men in combat clothing asking for water. This prompted an expansion of the search.
Security has been tightened along Jammu-Pathankot national highway and link roads leading to border villages to plug potential escape routes for the terrorists.
In Rajouri district, security forces found a terrorist hideout in Manyal Gali forests of Thanamandi, seizing live rounds, a grenade, a gas cylinder, a solar panel, and food supplies.
Terrorist activities sparked protests in Jammu, where Dogra Front and Shiv Sena activists burned a Pakistani flag, denouncing cross-border terrorism.