Six infiltrators and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of Indian Army have been killed in a prolonged encounter in Tutmar Gali area on the line of Control (loC). The encounter started during the intervening night of December 1 and 2 when troops deployed along the loC spotted suspicious movement.
The infiltration bid coincided with Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag’s visit to the forward areas in north Kashmir and holding of second phase elections in Jammu and Kashmir.A Defence spokesman said that the infiltrators were well- equipped as they passed through the areas covered in heavy snow.“On the night intervening December 1 and 2, the infiltration bid in the Tutmari Gali Sector was detected and six infiltrators were eliminated along the loC near the Shamshabari Ridge,” the spokesman said.
“After the elimination of three terrorists on the first night itself, the operations continued relentlessly in the extreme harsh conditions and high altitude terrain of the Shamshabari Ridge resulting in the elimination of three more terrorists on the second day. In the tough conditions of high altitude, snow and adverse weather, the Army personnel braved all odds to eliminate the terrorists,” he added.
Sources said that during the encounter Junior Commissioned Officer, Subedar Ajay Vardhan was also killed. Vardhan spotted the infiltrators and tried to contact them. “While closing in on them, the JCO and his team came under intense fire from the terrorists but with utter disregard to his own safety the JCO charged at them and eliminated the terrorists. In the process, he came under a hail of bullets and was grievously wounded. He later succumbed to his injuries during evacuation,” the spokesman said.
Six AK rifles, one pistol and a large quantity of warlike stores have been recovered from the slain infiltrators.The operation was in progress when last reports poured in from the area. The encounter took place few hours after Army Chief General Dalbir Singh visited Kashmir’s forward areas during his two-day visit to Northern Command.Shortly after the first bout of fire rattled calmness in the frontier area, the polling had started in the Kupwara district recording a massive turnout by the end of the day.