Terrorist hideout busted in Poonch, ammo seized; search ops launched in Jammu, Kathua

Joint teams carried out cordon-and-search operations based on intelligence inputs about suspicious activity

JAMMU: Security forces busted a terrorist hideout in a remote village in J&K’s Poonch district, while joint teams carried out cordon-and-search operations in Jammu’s Akhnoor sector and Kathua’s Hiranagar sector based on intelligence inputs about suspicious activity, officials said Wednesday.Officials said the hideout, set up in a cave, was unearthed during a joint search operation by the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and J&K Police in Bhoriwala dhok of Surankote tehsil on Wednesday morning. Troops seized two magazines of an AK assault rifle, 117 rounds of ammunition, and 17 rounds of 9mm pistol ammunition from the spot.Around 2pm Tuesday, a suspected Pakistani drone allegedly entered Indian airspace and was spotted hovering over the forward villages of Shukhmal, Devindera and Tapan in Bobiyan area of Kathua’s Hiranagar sector. BSF personnel tried to shoot it down, but the UAV, flying at a high altitude, managed to return across the border. A subsequent search of the area did not yield anything suspicious, officials said.A joint team of CRPF and J&K Police conducted another search operation from Parshuram Temple to Jandi Nallah in Hiranagar as part of an area-domination exercise.

Separately, the Army and J&K Police launched a combing operation in Sunail Panchayat area of Jammu’s Akhnoor sector after a resident reported suspicious movement Tuesday. Meanwhile, separate cordon-and-search operations launched Tuesday in two locations in J&K’s Poonch district continued without any sighting or contact with terror suspects allegedly present in the area. Three suspects were allegedly seen near Gujjar Naar area, and four more were spotted close to Kherowali dhok in the remote Dhara Sangla village in Surankote sector.