Search operation in Poonch’s Bhatta Durrian still on, suspect presence of some militants: DGP

Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh on Thursday said the combing and search operation in Poonch district is still on as security forces suspect the presence of terrorists in the Bhatta Durrian forests where nine soldiers were killed in October.
Efforts are being made from Pakistan to increase infiltration of terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir but a majority of those are being foiled, he said.
“Bhatta Durrian combing and search operation has been going on for quite some time. The operation is still on,” the director general of police (DGP) told reporters here.
“After infiltration in that area, we suspect the presence of some terrorists there. The operation continues and our troops who are deployed there will be able to account for that,” he said.
Armed with sophisticated weapons, a large number of Army personnel and policemen have been battling the threat of ambushes and IEDs to carry out cleaning up operations in dense forests, valleys and cave hideouts in Poonch.
The operation was initially launched to flush out a group of terrorists who attacked Army search parties on October 11 and 14, killing nine soldiers, including two Junior Commissioned Officers.
Over a dozen people, including two women, were detained for questioning after it came to light that they had allegedly provided logistic support to the terrorists, officials said, adding during this operation, four IEDs planted by terrorists were detected and defused safely.
About infiltration attempts, the DGP said efforts are being made from the Pakistan side to increase infiltration. But the border grid is very strong and working effectively to foil the attempts, he said.
Several infiltration bids have been foiled in Baramulla, Kupwara, Bandipora in Kashmir and Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.No active terrorist is left in Srinagar, Singh said but underlined that there is the presence of “hybrid terrorists”.
“We have identified them and taken action. The number of the terrorists operating in Jammu and Kashmir are the lowest now,” the DGP added.