Three top Lashker-e-Tayiba militants, including a self-styled divisional commander, on Tuesday gave slip to the security forces after a 20-hour gun battle in Bhaderwah town in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
"No militant could be traced after search operation has been completed in Kai Mohalla in Bhaderwah tehsil, where a gun battle had been going on for 20 hours with ultras holed up at a house," they said.
The operation was called off at 1400 hours and nothing was found from the spot, they said, adding that the militants may have escaped. LeT divisional commander Abu Tallah and two other militants had come to Kai Mohalla on Monday night to hold a meeting with Lashkar and Hizbul Mujahideen cadres, officials said.
Acting on specific information, troops of 4 Rashtriya Rifles, Special Task Force, 76 Battalion of Central Reserve Police Force and police cordoned off the entire area and launched a search operation, the officials said.
As they reached near the house where the meeting was being held, the militants fired on them and a fierce gun battle ensued, the officials added.
Elsewhere in the state, a policeman was abducted while security forces unearthed a huge cache of arms and explosives and arrested a suspected militant since on Monday night, a police spokesman said on Tuesday. Militants kidnapped
a police constable Abdul Rehman from Shadole Gulabgarh village in Udhampur district on Sunday night, the spokesman said, adding that a hunt has been launched to trace him.
In a major haul, security forces recovered 57 hand-grenades, 16 pistols, 32 magazines, 750 rounds, 120 pika rounds and 35 UBGL grenades during search operations at Maidan post near the Line of Control in Baramulla district.
The spokesman said security forces also recovered four AK magazines, 75 rounds, two UBGL grenades and an antenna from Bajla Khari in Banihal area of Doda district on Monday night.
In another incident, a group of four ultras set ablaze the house of one Ali Mohammad after forcing all inmates out at Lancha village in Doda district on Monday night. The house and an adjoining one were gutted, the spokesman said.
A suspected militant was arrested from Tantraypora village of Tangmarg in Baramulla district on Tuesday and two hand-grenades and an AK magazine with ten rounds were recovered from him, he said.
Meanwhile, some unknown persons took away a private car belonging to one Suneel Kumar from Kareemabad village of Pulwama district on Monday night. An alert has been sounded in the entire district to trace the vehicle, the spokesman said. In the past, militants had often set off car bomb blasts using stolen vehicles.