In Jammu and Kashmir, a massive search operation to track down a group of infiltrating terrorists continued for the third day in a forested area in the Hiranagar sector of Kathua district today. The operation, led by DGP, Nalin Prabhat, was launched on Sunday evening in the Saryal village of Hiranagar sector following an encounter between security forces and terrorists hiding in a nursery. Akashvani Jammu Correspondent reports that 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 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.

The hiding terrorists launched a barrage of fire at the police, leading to an intense gunfight that lasted for more than half an hour. 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. The local villagers, meanwhile, organized a community kitchen for the security personnel and the media persons at the outer cordon.