Jammu’s Doda Encounter: Security Forces Intensify Search in Dense Forests with Reinforcements and Aerial Surveillance
The militants responsible for the killing of four Army personnel in Jammu’s Doda on Tuesday are believed to be the same group that evaded capture after an attack on security forces and police in the Sezan forests of the district on July 9, sources in the security establishment reported
Sources indicate that security forces had been tracking these militants for the past week. Around 9 pm on Monday, contact was made with the militants, resulting in a fierce firefight. Four soldiers, including a Captain, were critically injured and later succumbed to their injuries at the hospital.
The Army identified the fallen soldiers as Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra, and Sepoy Ajay.
The area has been surrounded, and additional reinforcements from the Army, including para commandos and the police’s Special Operation Group, have been dispatched. Ground teams are supported by helicopter and drone surveillance, but the militants remain elusive.
The search teams are facing challenges navigating the dense forests on the difficult mountain terrain, with pine trees towering 200-250 feet high and dense underbrush making visibility difficult beyond 3-4 feet.
These dense forests span a vast area from Udhampur’s Basantgarh to Paddar in Kishtwar district and the Jawahar tunnel in Ramban district, with the militants utilizing the terrain to their advantage.
Security agencies suspect that this is not the only terrorist group in Doda district, believing that there are more in the higher reaches. Doda district borders Kashmir Valley, Ramban and Udhampur districts, Kathua, and Himachal Pradesh.
The Army has been conducting coordinated operations with the J&K police to eliminate the militants, who are believed to have infiltrated from across the border and are operating in the upper reaches of Udhampur, Doda, Kishtwar, and Bhaderwah.
Search operations in Doda forests have been ongoing since militants attacked a patrol party, killing a Special Police Officer (SPO) on April 28 in Udhampur district’s Basantgarh area, near Bhaderwah’s Seoj Dhar area.
Jammu-based Army PRO, Lt Col Suneel Bartwal, stated that an analysis of “warlike stores recovered from the slain terrorists” earlier reveals the involvement of hostile agencies from across the border.
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