Three infiltrators were killed and an unspecified number fled back to Pakistan when troops intercepted a group of heavily armed infiltrators at the line of Control in Nowgam sector of North Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday night, Defence sources said.
The Nowgam sector has turned hot during the past week as Pakistani troops reportedly opened fire on Indian installations at several occasions.
Defence spokesman Naresh Vij told The Pioneer that alert troops intercepted a group of heavily armed infiltrators late on Saturday night after their movement was spotted at the Indian side of the loC.
"Three infiltrators have been shot dead. They were part of a group but other members of the group have possibly fled back to Pakistani side taking advantage of darkness," Vij said. He said war-like stores have been recovered from the slain militants who identity was being ascertained.
This is the fourth incident of firing in the Nowgam sector during past two weeks. In one incident, a commanding officer and two soldiers were injured in Pakistani firing while a brigadier got holed up in a picket due to heavy firing.
Sources said that the Indian troops have started construction and repair of some pickets in the Nowgam sector, 120 km north from here, which has irked the Pakistani troops. The Defence spokesman refused to comment on the construction of bunkers.
"The latest information from the sector is that we have foiled an infiltration bid and killed three infiltrators," Vij explained. The Pakistani artillery targeted the pickets across the loC for the third time since May 24, when they first opened fire on Indian positions in the Tutamari Gali. Sources said that construction of a new picket and repairs of another on the Indian side is the bone of contention. Each time, they open fire after the sunset when the construction work was being carried out.
In the first salvo from across the border on May 24 evening, Commander of 17 Infantry Brigade Sanjeev langar and his two soldiers were injured. Reports said that a senior Army officer overlooking a large stretch of the loC was got stranded in a bunker in Samgam sector when Pakistani artillery opened fire. The officer had gone to oversee the construction work on the pickets besides monitoring the alertness of troops.
The troops have been put on the high alert along the loC to effectively check the infiltration. Defence sources said that the Army is ready to frustrate the militants' designs to sneak into Kashmir on a large scale.
Source said that the repairs and reconstruction work on the bunkers was not an unusual affair as the pickets usually get damaged due to heavy snowfall during the winter. "The construction work is carried out when the snow melts during peak summer time. It is a routine practice," an Army officer said.
Defence sources say that the Pakistani troops up the ante in a particular sector when they have to push in a group of armed infiltrators. "It is usually a covering fire provided to the infiltrating group," the officer said.
He said that Pakistan Army is desperately attempting to push infiltrators to augment the number of active militants in Kashmir, who have been asked to increase the level of violence. On May 24, Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed four Rashtriya Rifles troops in South Kashmir's Trail pocket while security forces killed three lashkar-e-Tayyeba militants in Sopore and Shopian in separate encounters. The Shopian encounter lasted for 26 hours when two local militants engaged the Army and police in a fierce gun-battle.