Security forces on Tuesday launched massive combing and search operation in Bandipora area of north Kashmir following a brief exchange of fire with militants. The operation was called off in the evening after the militants escaped from the area.
The gunfight erupted in the wee hours after a joint operation was launched by the anti-insurgency wing of police at Ajar village in Bandipora, around 57 kilometers from Srinagar, following a tip-off that militants were hiding in the area. While the siege was being laid, the hiding militants opened fire which was retaliated, triggering a gunfight. The cordon and search operation continued throughout the day but militants managed to escape from the area.
This is the second anti-militancy operation in Bandipora during the current unrest. On September 22, an unidentified militant was killed in a gunfight at Argam Chiti-Bandi area in the district.
Reports also said that security forces also launched house-to-house searches in Dooru area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district in the wee hours.
Meanwhile, lt Gen JS Sandhu took over as the 46th Corps Commander of the strategically important Srinagar-based XV Corps. He replaced lt Gen Satish Dua who held the post during the crucial phase of the current unrest and escalation on borders. During Dua’s tenure, the army and security forces shot dead iconic Hizbul Mujahideen militant Burhan Wani whose death triggered massive unrest in Kashmir while the Indian army conducted “surgical strikes” across the line of Control in leepa Valley of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.