NEW DELHI: After a fierce gunfight erupted between the security forces and terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir’s Kathua on Sunday evening, eyewitnesses recounted the horror of the incident. Search operations are under way after three to five terrorists were reportedly spotted in the region.
A 48-year-old woman narrowly escaped as the heavily armed terrorists held her husband at gunpoint in a nursery near the international border.
“The terrorists were holding my husband at gunpoint and also asked me to come near. But my husband signalled me to escape and I started running away. One of the terrorists tried to stop me but in vain as I started shouting, which attracted the attention of two more persons who were cutting grass,” Anita Devi told PTI.
District development councillor Karan Kumar said that around “250 rounds of intense gunfire” were heard. “An atmosphere of fear has gripped the village due to the presence of terrorists. We heard around 250 rounds of intense gunfire,” he said.
The operation was launched based on intelligence indicating the presence of terrorists inside a dhok—a local term for an enclosure—within the nursery in Sanyal village, about five kilometers from Pakistan border.
The gunfire erupted after a Special Operations Group (SOG) police team launched a search operation based on intelligence inputs.
As security personnel moved in, they came under heavy fire, triggering an intense exchange of gunfire.
Reinforcements were quickly dispatched, and a manhunt was launched to track down the infiltrators, who are suspected to have entered on Saturday either through a ravine route or a newly dug tunnel.