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Major killed in J&K

An army major and four hardcore militants were killed in two separate militancy-related incidents in Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir since last evening. The security forces have recovered arms and ammunition during the operations.

An official spokesman said in Jammu today that five unidentified militants equipped with sophisticated weapons fired indiscriminately on a patrol party of 11 Rashtriya Rifles at village Mool Chatar in the Chatroo area of Doda district today.

He said during the encounter an army major Gurpreet Singh was killed on the spot while the militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

He said reinforcements have been called and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the escaped militants. The operation was still going on when the reports last came in. Further details were awaited, he said.

The spokesman said in another incident security forces acting on a tip-off conducted a search operation at Tiran village in the Banihal area of the same district late last night.

When the operation was in progress, militants hidden inside the cordoned-off area fired at the search party with automatic weapons from different directions, he said and added that during the encounter four hardcore militants were killed on the spot while three others were injured.

The injured militants managed to escape in the dense forest area and a massive search operation has been launched to nab them, he said.

One universal machine gun, five AK 56 rifles, ten grenades, one map and some ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter, he said.

The deputy inspector general of Udhampur-Doda range said that about 700 militants are active in Udhampur and Doda districts out of whom 300 are foreigners.

He admitted that after the Kargil conflict militant activities have increased in Doda and Udhampur districts.

UNI

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