Security forces and police cordoned off an area on Sunday after detecting possible movement of three individuals suspected to be terrorists who had escaped from a recent encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district, sources reported. The encounter took place on Thursday in the remote forested Sanyal belt of Kathua, resulting in the deaths of two terrorists and four policemen. Three others, including a deputy superintendent of police, sustained injuries during the gunfight.

Fresh intelligence reports indicated that three suspected terrorists were spotted in the Juthana area of the Rajbagh belt. In response, security forces swiftly imposed a cordon and initiated a thorough search operation to track their whereabouts. According to local sources, a villager informed the police that three suspicious individuals had entered a house in the area, requested food, and later disappeared into a nearby forest late Sunday evening. This prompted heightened vigilance and intensified search efforts by the security forces.

The group of terrorists had been under surveillance since last Sunday when they were first intercepted in a ‘dhok’—a local term for an enclosure in a nursery—situated in Sanyal village near the International Border with Pakistan. The pursuit of the militants led to a fierce gunfight in Sanyal, which ultimately resulted in the deaths of two terrorists and four police personnel. Security forces remain on high alert as they continue their search operations, deploying additional personnel to track down the suspected terrorists and ensure the safety of the region.

Disclaimer: This image is taken from PTI.