Four militants and two SOG men of J&K police were injured in a gunfight in Nagrota area of Jammu on Thursday, officials said. The gunfight which according to the officials started around 5 a.m. also led to the closure of Jammu-Srinagar highway which was reopened later.
The officials said that the gunbattle started near the toll plaza in the Ban area of Nagrota when some militants opened fire at police and paramilitary forces. The militants, they said, were hiding in a truck. The Army also joined the operation, they said. In the initial phase of the gunfight, they said, two SOG personnel were injured who were later hospitalized.
The injured have been identified as Kuldeep Raj (32) of Akhnoor and Mohammad Ishaq Malik (40) of Neel Qasim Banihal Ramban. Both have been admitted in GMC Jammu with injuries on neck and their condition is said to be stable. Later four militants were killed.
Inspector General of Police Jammu Mukesh Singh said the slain militants were carrying 11 rifles and it was for the “first time” such a huge recovery has been made.
“There were general intelligence inputs regarding some fresh infiltration bids by Jash-e-Mohammad and Lashker-e-Toiba. We were on the alert. The intelligence inputs were with regard to the elections and disrupting the elections,” he told reporters.
“We had kept teams on alert at all nakas. The checking was going on very well. During the checking at 5 a.m. in the morning when the driver was questioned he hesitated and started running away. We started searching the vehicle and we were fired upon,” he said, adding, “In the retaliatory fire four militants were killed. We have recovered 11 AK-47 rifles which is a huge number. Three pistols, satellite and phones, compass were also recovered. We will be investigating the matter and further details can follow”.
Asked where from the militants infiltrated, the top police officer of Jammu said: “This is a matter of investigation. We are looking into it. We are trying to find out.”
He responded in affirmative to a question by a journalist if the militants had infiltrated during wee hours: “Yes, it appears they infiltrated late night or early morning.”
Asked about the driver of the vehicle, the IGP said that the he was absconding. “We are looking for the driver.”
To a query about the plan of the militants given 11 rifles were recovered from them, he said: “It appears that the plan of the militants was something big because never in the past each militant has each carrying three Ak-47 rifles. This is for the first that such huge recovery has been made.”
The police officer also responded in affirmative to a question if the militants were heading towards Kashmir Valley.