Jammu, Jun 27 (PTI) A search operation by a joint team of security forces is underway to track down three Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in a forested area of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, officials said on Friday. A Pakistan-based JeM terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces on Thursday, and three of his associates remain trapped in the forested area of the Basantgarh belt. Backed by drones and sniffer dogs, the operation resumed afresh this morning, with the cordon further strengthened with additional reinforcements to eliminate the remaining terrorists of the group, they added.

Speaking to reporters here, Inspector General of Police Bhim Sen Tuti said "In the ongoing operation at Basantgarh, we had an encounter with terrorists around 8:30 AM yesterday. Due to poor weather, the operation faced challenges. This group consisted of four terrorists." He further said that one terrorist has been successfully neutralised, and the search is on to track down the remaining three. "The weather has now improved in the area. An operation is underway way", he said. The group of four terrorists had been tracked for a year. They were confronted by a joint search party of the Army and police in the remote Bihali area of Basantgarh on Thursday morning, officials said.

The four terrorists were found hiding near Karoor Nallah and were engaged by the joint search party led by the Army's Para Commandos, resulting in an encounter. One of the terrorists killed in the encounter has been identified as Haider, code-named Maulvi from Pakistan. Supported by over ground workers (OGWs), they had been moving from one area to another using forests and natural caves to hide, officials said. Five OGWs have been arrested during last several months in the belt for providing food and shelter to terrorists. It is also believed that a local terrorist who had returned from Pakistan after several years is actively supporting terrorists.

Basantgarh lies on a traditional infiltration route of Pakistani terrorists who enter from the International Border in Kathua and move via higher reaches to Doda and Kishtwar districts in Jammu region and further into the Kashmir Valley. It has witnessed several encounters and terror incidents in the past. On April 25, Havaldar Jhantu Ali Shaikh of the Army's 6 PARA was killed in an encounter with terrorists in the Basantgarh area. On April 9, an encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in the Jopher-Marta belt of Basantgarh in Udhampur district.

On September 11 last year, two terrorists affiliated with the JeM were killed in an encounter in the upper reaches of Basantgarh. A CRPF inspector was killed in another encounter with terrorists at Dudu on August 19, 2024. On July 11, 2024, the Sang police post in Udhampur's Basantgarh came under attack by terrorists but was foiled by alert cops. On April 28, 2024, a village defence guard, Mohammad Sharief, was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Basantgarh.

/Agencies