Braving a “barrage of bullets” during an encounter in Wanigam Bala area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, a joint team of security forces on Saturday abortively tried to save their four-legged companion who remained in the forefront of the firefight.
Senior Superintendent of Police Baramulla Rayees Mohammad Bhat told reporters on the sidelines of a police function, “during an encounter one ‘unidentified’ terrorist was neutralised while three security personnel — including two army jawans and one cop of the Jammu and Kashmir Police — received injuries. A sniffer dog was also martyred during the fierce gunfight”.
The dog squad was deployed at the encounter site to track down the foot prints of the hiding terrorists before launching the operation.
According to reports, one of the sniffer dogs was caught in the crossfire and succumbed to injuries on the spot. After the encounter was over, several soldiers paid their tributes. Later the martyred dog was shifted to the nearby unit headquarters for the last rites.
According to ground reports, soon after an encounter broke out between the hiding terrorists and a joint team of security forces comprising jawans of the 29 Rashtriya Rifles, Jammu & Kashmir Police and paramilitary forces near Wanigam Bala area of Baramulla early Saturday morning the supervisory officers directed the jawans to strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOP) in order to minimise any collateral damage.
The road links leading to the village were blocked and local residents were advised to stay indoors to prevent any injury during the exchange of heavy fire.
According to these reports, local police authorities had received a tip-off about the presence of two to three terrorists in one of the houses in the area.
As the security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the area and were tightening the cordon, the terrorists opened fire from inside one of the houses. Since it was a built up area the security forces exercised utmost restraint and avoided use of heavy weaponary to neutralise the terrorists in the area.
According to police records, Kashmir valley has so far witnessed over 75 encounters in which 126 terrorists have been killed.
Out of these 126 terrorists, 33 were foreigners, mostly from Pakistan. However, 19 civilians have also died in various terror attacks in the valley, while 16 security personnel sacrificed their lives.