Two militants killed, associate arrested in Poonch encounter

Poonch, Dec 13: Two militants have been killed while their associate has been arrested during an encounter that had raged between militants and joint forces in Chatta-Pani area along Mughal Road here in Jammu’s Poonch district on Sunday.

Inspector General of Police Jammu Zone Mukesh Kumar confirmed that killing of two non-local militants and the arrest of one associate during the encounter in Dugran -Poshana Chatta-Pani area that falls under the jurisdiction of police station Sarankote in Poonch.

Official sources said that a combing operation is underway in the area while the firing has been stopped. “Before calling off operation, we want to ensure that no militants are present in the area. It was a tough operation due to snowy area,” said an official.

Director General of Police Dilbah Singh said that these militants had recently infiltrated into this part of Kashmir and were on way to Shopian district of South Kashmir. “We had received the information about their presence on Friday but due to difficult terrain and snow, the contact with these militants was not established. Today a contact was established,” Singh said.

The 84-kilometre road historic Mughal Road is the road between Bufliaz, a town in the Poonch district, to the Shopian district of South Kashmir.

A couple of days ago, joint forces had busted a militant hideout in the upper forest belt of Herpora Shopian along the Mughal Road. An official said that since the busting of the hideout, intensive search operations were launched in different parts of the road by Joint Forces including soldiers from 16 Rashtriya Rifles and today, a contact with militants was established in Dugran -Poshana Chatta-Pani area that falls under the jurisdiction of police station Sarankote in Poonch. (KNT)