Poonch Gunfight ‘Feared Missing’; JCO, soldier found killed, toll rises to nine

Jammu: Almost two days after one Junior Commissioned Officer and a soldier was feared missing during an ongoing gunfight, Army on Saturday found them killed in Nar Khas forest area of Mendhar in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu based Defence Spokesman said that JCO (Subedar) Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh of Indian Army were killed in action during search operations being conducted by the Indian Army along with Jammu and Kashmir Police in densely forested area of Nar Khas forest in Mendhar, District Poonch.

“Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh were part of search operations launched by the security forces to flush out terrorists hiding in the forested area,” said the spokesman.

He said that on Oct 14, after a fierce firefight with terrorists, the communication with Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh was disrupted.

“Relentless operations continued to neutralize the terrorists and to re-establish communication with the soldiers,” he said.

The spokesman said that Subedar Ajay Singh and Naik Harendra Singh were killed in action in the fierce fight and their bodies have been recovered this evening.

The operations in the area are continuing, he said.

The encounter broke out along the Line of Control as a group of heavily armed terrorists in Mendhar sub division opened fire on a search party.

The Counter Terrorist operation started in the area of Nar Khas Forest, the Army spokesperson said.

The search operation was launched October 11 after the Surankote operation.

There were three to four terrorists who fired at the joint patrol party in Bhatadharian of Nar Khas Forest.

Earlier, one JCO and four jawans were killed in a gun battle in Surankote area of Poonch district and on Friday, Army confirmed the killing of two riflemen in the counter insurgency operation.

However, searches were being carried out to flush out remaining armed terrorists hiding in the woods along the LoC.

The Jammu and Kashmir Ghaznavi Force had claimed responsibility for the October 11 attack.

Meanwhile the Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Rajouri-Poonch Range, Vivek Gupta on Saturday said that the terrorists were trapped at one place and the Poonch-Rajouri-Jammu highway will be opened as soon as the security is provided to the area.

He was speaking on the encounter in the Bhata Dhurian area in Jammu and Kashmir.

Days after encounters with terrorists in which Army personnel were martyred, a search operation by security personnel continued in the Bhata-Durian area which is adjacent to the Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) forest ridge in Rajouri-Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Army troops along with the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on October 15 had launched a search operation in this dense forest. According to police, vehicular traffic had been suspended on the highway between Bhimber Gali and Surankote on Friday.

Five Army personnel including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were martyred in anti-terrorist operations in the DKG area of Rajouri adjoining the Poonch sector on October 11.