Army major, 3 jawans die in Gurez LoC battle

Srinagar: An Army major and three soldiers were killed in a gunbattle in the 2,600-metre-high Gurez area along the Line of Control in J&K’s Bandipore district on Tuesday.

Officials said two militants among a group of eight infiltrators were also killed in the clash and that their corpses were lying on ground near the fence along the de facto border. Two more infiltrators are also learnt to have been killed, while the others fled to Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, they said . Bandipore’s SSP Zulfikar Ahmad said the firing had started at around 1 am on Tuesday.

Defence spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia said in Srinagar: “A major infiltration bid  was foiled. Two terrorists were killed. One of our officers and three soldiers have laid down their lives while foiling the infiltration bid. The operation is still under way.”

The Army said the encounter between the militants and the Army took place at Govind Nallah in Bakhtor area of Gurez sector, about 135 km from Srinagar.

Earlier, Bandipore’s deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary tweeted: “Ceasefire violation in Gurez.” Some media reports also reported the armies of India and Pakistan trading fire along the LoC in the same area. Asked about it, the defence spokesman told this correspondent: “As far as I know it was an infiltration bid which was foiled by our alert jawans. The operation is still on.”

The officials identified the slain Army personnel as Maj. K.P. Rane, Havaldar Jamie Singh, Havaldar Vikramjeet and rifleman Mandeep of 36 Rashtriya Rifles.

Police officials said a group of eight heavily-armed men breached the LoC fence into the Gurez sector from PoK, but was confronted by an Army patrol.

The government meanwhile informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday that 69 militants have infiltrated into J&K from across the border till June this year. There were 133 infiltration attempts by militants from across the border and 69 net infiltrations, minister of state for home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir said in written reply.

He added that till June this year, 14 militants were killed while 50 others were returned from the border. He further said a total of 123 militants could enter J&K following 406 infiltration attempts across the border in 2017.