Jammu : Two Army soldiers were injured in encounter with militants in Zadan area of Kastigarh Tehsil in district Doda when militants resorted to unprovoked firing on security forces late last night.
The firing was retaliated by the Indian Army after which militants fled from the spot by taking advantage of darkness.
Officials said that the fire fight started around 2.30 am when militants resorted to indiscriminate firing on the Army at Government High School Zadan. “The alert troops retaliated and the firing continued till first light of the day. But taking advantage of darkness, militants managed to give forces slip again,” an official said.
The Zadan village is situated on the north-west side of Doda town, about 32 kilometers from district headquarters Doda where the incident occurred around 2.30 am and firing started till 5 am.
Officials said that it was the brave efforts of the injured soldiers who retaliated immediately and saved the lives of fellow soldiers who were taking rest inside the Government High School Zadan building after completing a hectic search operation in the area.
The injured soldiers with bullet wounds were shifted to associate hospital Government Medical College (GMC) Doda from where they were airlifted to command hospital northern command Udhampur.
Talking to media persons at Kastigarh, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range Shridhar Patil said that coordinated operation of security forces is underway in the area. “You have observed that yesterday we had contact with hiding militants and Thursday as well we had contact with militants. As the search operation is under progress, I can’t share much detail but soon we will get success,” the DIG said.
In connection with the encounter police have detained a few suspects from both the Urranbaggi and Kastigarh encounter sites for questioning and one person from Malwas area near Doda town is being put through questioning at Joint Interrogation Centre (JIC) Doda. The arrested person was brought to the Associated Hospital GMC Doda for medical checkup by the police and was taken back to JIC for further questioning.
Meanwhile, Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant outfit, has claimed responsibility for the militant attack but the authenticity of the claim was not confirmed
