At least four ‘heavily-armed’ terrorists who had crossed the border from Pakistan and were travelling to Kashmir in a truck were killed in a ‘chance encounter’ with security personnel early on Wednesday morning in the Jammu neighbourhood of Sidhra. Prior to Republic Day, the encounter was a “great success,” according to the police.
According to Mukesh Singh, additional director general of police for the Jammu zone, a shootout occurred at around 7:30 a.m. in dense fog close to Tawi Bridge in the Sidhra bypass area along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
The General Officer Commanding of the Army’s Tiger division, Maj. Gen. Gaurav Gautam, stood by Singh as he informed media at the scene that four terrorists’ bodies had been found inside the truck.
He claimed that from the terrorists who were killed, “seven AK assault weapons, one M4 rifle, three handguns, and a significant amount of ammo were found.”
“A truck travelling into Kashmir was seen making a strange movement. It was pursued and halted close to the Sidhra checkpoint, but the driver escaped under the pretext that he needed to use the restroom, according to the ADGP.
Singh claimed that when police became suspicious, they began searching the truck but were heavily attacked from within. He said that after a confrontation, the truck caught fire and that the terrorists were dead.
The ultras were fully armed and en route to Kashmir when they were stopped, according to the ADGP. He claimed that efforts were being made to apprehend the truck’s eluded driver.
The ADGP stated, “The identify and group affiliation of the terrorists is awaiting.”
Three terrorists have reportedly been killed so far, according to Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh. He continued, “There may be more.”
When asked if the truck driver had chosen the terrorists to transport them to Kashmir from across the border, he responded that the matter is under investigation.
According to officials, the two sides exchanged heavy fire for more than 45 minutes, during which time several explosions that appeared to be the result of grenade throwing could be heard.
The truck, which was carrying husk and was severely damaged in the shooting, was observed spewing smoke.
Security forces have stopped a second significant infiltration attempt in the past two days.
In the Udhampur area of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, an improvised explosive device (IED) weighing 15 kilogrammes was discovered. Later, the police arrived at the scene and disarmed the IED, preventing a significant assault.
According to a news agency citing officials, the cylindrical IED, 300-400 grammes of RDX, seven 7.62 mm bullets, and five detonators were found on Monday in the Basantgarh region.
Along with the IED, authorities also found one coded sheet and one letter-pad page from the outlawed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
