J&K encounter under way: Cop killed, terrorists trapped; heavy firing reported

NEW DELHI: A policeman was killed and a terrorist was believed to be injured in a gunfight with security forces in a remote forest village of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday evening, officials said. The encounter has since halted, but the area remains under a tight security cordon with all escape routes sealed.The gunfight broke out at village Soan in the Majalta area after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation following specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists believed to be affiliated with the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit, officials said.Inspector General of Police, Jammu, Bhim Sen Tuti said contact was established after police received precise information. “Joint team of Special Operations Group (SOG) of police along with Army and CRPF are on job,” he said. In another post, the IGP said, “a very small SOG team engaged the terrorists! Combing of the forest has been impeded due to darkness and treacherous terrain.”Officials said the encounter began around 6 pm when joint teams of the Army, police and paramilitary forces intensified the search operation in the Soan–Martha area of Majalta tehsil. “As the security forces intensified the search operation, the hiding terrorists opened fire, which was retaliated to, triggering an encounter,” an official said.One terrorist was believed to have been hit in the initial exchange of fire, officials said, adding that intermittent firing continued for some time before the operation was suspended for the night due to poor visibility and difficult terrain. The search operation is expected to resume with the first light of day on Tuesday.Reinforcements have been rushed to the area to strengthen the cordon and prevent the terrorists from escaping, officials added.(With inputs from PTI)