Updated: November 19, 2020 10:37:44 am
Tightened security in Nagrota while a meeting takes place near Ban Toll Plaza Images of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. (AND ME)
Four militants were killed in an encounter with security forces near Ban Toll Plaza along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway near Nagrota on Thursday morning.
According to senior police officers, the killed militants owed their allegiance to Jaish-e-Mohammad and were a new group that had infiltrated the Union Territory from across the International Border in the Samba sector.
Two staff members of the Jammu Kashmir Police Special Operations Group were also injured. (AND ME)
According to the director general of the police, Dalbagh Singh, the militants had infiltrated last night and were heading to Kashmir along with a large quantity of weapons and ammunition to disrupt the upcoming District Development Council elections and the panchayat by-elections.
The encounter began when the militants, hiding in a truck, threw grenades at the security personnel during the control at around 5 in the morning. In swift retaliation, police and CRPF personnel deployed to Ban Toll Plaza killed two militants as they tried to get out of the truck to take position.
The truck was heading to Kashmir. During the meeting, an explosion occurred inside the truck, indicating that the militants were carrying a large quantity of weapons and ammunition.
Two members of staff from the Jammu Kashmir Police Special Operations Group were also injured. They were identified as Kuldeep Raj (32) from Akhnoor and Mohammad Ishaq Malik (40) from Neel Qasim Banihal Ramban. Both have been admitted to GMC Jammu and their condition was declared stable.
At the beginning of January 31 this year, a group of militants had opened fire on a police team near Ban Toll Plaza, causing a shootout in which three ultras were killed and a policeman was injured. They, too, had reportedly come from Pakistan through an underground cross-border tunnel in the Samba sector which was later detected by BSF.
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