Massive search operation to track down terrorists enters third day in J-K’s Kathua

New Delhi: A massive search operation to track down a group of infiltrating terrorists continued in a forested area in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
The operation, led by Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat, was launched on Sunday evening in the Hiranagar sector following an encounter between security forces and terrorists hiding in a nursery.
As the security forces moved deep inside the cordoned off area this morning, a barrage of gunfire was heard. However, officials said it was speculative firing resorted by the troops after noticing some suspicious movement.
An army helicopter was seen hovering over the area as the joint troops of the army, including commandos equipped with heavy weapons, sniffer dogs, drones and unmanned aerial vehicles continued the search for the terrorists believed to be trapped in the area, the officials said.
The operation was launched by a Special Operations Group of police after they got intelligence about the presence of terrorists inside a ‘dhok’ a local term for an enclosure in a nursery in Sanyal village, approximately five km from the International Border with Pakistan, officials said.
The hiding terrorists launched a barrage of fire at the police party, leading to an intense gunfight that lasted for more than half an hour, they said
Reinforcements were swiftly dispatched, as a manhunt was launched to apprehend the terrorists, believed to have infiltrated on Saturday via either the ravine route or through a newly created tunnel.