Policeman killed, another injured in ongoing encounter in Kathua Search operation intensified in entire region: ADGP Jammu

Srinagar, Sep 28: A Jammu and Kashmir Police head constable was killed, and an assistant sub-inspector injured during an encounter with terrorists in a remote village of Kathua district on Saturday evening, officials said. Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu Zone, Anand Jain said that During the ongoing encounter in village Kog (Mandli), under the jurisdiction of P/S Billawar, one police personnel, HC Bashir Ahmed, has sacrificed his life, and one ASI has sustained bullet injuries. Further details are awaited, he said in a post on X. ADGP Jain further said an earlier encounter was launched based on specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists in the area, A joint search operation was launched by security forces at village Kog (Mandli) jurisdiction of P/S Billawar ) Kathua. “The contact has been established & few rounds have been fired from both sides. Area cordoned off and further details awaited,” he said. Speaking to Rising Kashmir, ADGP Jain said hiding terrorists opened fire on the security personnel, who retaliated, thereby triggering a gunfight. In the initial firing one policeman was killed and another was injured. Firing has stopped now, search operation has been intensified. He said the entire area is still under tight security cordon to neutralise the terrorists. They have also deployed additional companies to the nearby areas” he said. Another officer said that it may be the same group of terrorists that was roaming in the region. They have recently infiltrated through IB. We are hopeful that we will succeed in eliminating the entire group of terrorists involved in this attack,” he added. The officer said night vision drones, choppers and more troops have arrived in the area to track the movement of terrorists. Last week, two unidentified terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Khandara Top in Basantgarh, near the border of Udhampur and Kathua districts. Meanwhile, ahead of 3rd phase of assembly elections on Oct 01, heightened security measures have been enforced across Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts. Additional forces have been deployed to safeguard residential areas and polling stations, while existing troops and police are conducting regular search operations targeting terrorists suspected of hiding in forested regions. Over the past two months, nearly a dozen personnel, including two Army Captains and seven soldiers, have lost their lives in separate attacks across the upper reaches of Doda, Udhampur, and Kathua districts.