Security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district have ramped up efforts to track down infiltrating terrorists, deploying aerial surveillance and sniffer dogs after a night-long cordon sparked by fresh sightings of three suspects on Sunday.
The intensified multi-tier operation follows a deadly gunfight last Thursday in the Sanyal belt, where two terrorists and four policemen lost their lives, with three others, including a deputy superintendent of police, wounded. Six individuals are now in custody for questioning as the hunt zeroes in on the elusive fugitives.
The latest twist came Sunday night when three figures, clad in black robes and believed to be the terrorists who escaped the earlier encounter, entered a home in Rui village, several kilometers from the clash site. Shanker, an elderly resident, recounted to reporters, “I was alone when they asked for water. I gave it to them out of fear and went into another room. Before leaving, they took rotis and sabzi from the kitchen.” She refused their offer of two ₹500 notes, prompting an immediate cordon by security forces that transitioned into Monday’s sweeping search.
Spanning the forest belts of Rui, Juthana, Ghati, and Sanyal in Rajbagh, plus parts of Billawar, the operation unites the Army, police, NSG, CRPF, and BSF. A parallel sanitization effort is underway in the Samba sector near the International Border, with the entire border belt on high alert. Authorities suspect the terrorists, linked to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and its shadow group, the People’s Anti-Fascist Front, rely on overground workers (OGWs) for survival. Six detainees, including women from the family of jailed OGW Mohammad Latief—who aided an attack last year in Malhar—are under scrutiny for allegedly supporting the militants.
The trail began March 23, when police intercepted a group in a ‘dhok’ enclosure in Sanyal village near the Pakistan border, leading to Thursday’s fatal clash. Recovered bodies included two Pakistani JeM operatives and four policemen—Balwinder Singh Chib, Jaswant Singh, Tariq Ahmed, and Jagbir Singh—whose remains were retrieved over Friday and Saturday from the Ghati-Juthana forest, alongside war-like stores. With over two dozen questioned and the forest still hiding secrets, security forces press on, determined to dismantle the terror network threatening the region’s fragile peace.