Security forces and police in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district sprang into action late Sunday, cordoning off the Juthana area in the Rajbagh belt after reports of three suspected terrorists on the move.

Sources say the trio, believed to have slipped away from a deadly encounter last week, were spotted after a villager reported them entering a house, demanding food, and then vanishing into nearby jungle terrain.

The trail traces back to Thursday, when a fierce gunbattle in the Sanyal belt’s forested expanse claimed two terrorists and four policemen, with three others—including a Deputy Superintendent of Police—wounded.

That clash erupted after security teams tracked a group of terrorists holed up in a “dhok”—a local enclosure—in Sanyal village, just five kilometers from the Pakistan border, following an initial intercept the previous Sunday.

Fresh intelligence late Sunday triggered the latest lockdown, with forces now combing Juthana for the elusive suspects.

The operation, still unfolding as of 1:00 AM Monday, builds on a week of relentless pursuit since the Sanyal firefight. With tensions high and the border close, Kathua’s dense jungles remain a battleground as police and security units tighten the net around these shadowy figures.