Jammu: After a brief lull and intermittent firing, a gun battle in Poonch district that claimed lives of five soldiers on Monday, stretched deep into forested areas of Rajouri district as the government forces managed to establish fresh contact with the hiding militants.
One Junior Commissioned Officer and four army jawans were killed as heavy firing ensued a cordon and search operation in villages close to Dera Ki Gali area.
“The encounter that started between the Government forces and the militants in Chamrer forest area of Surankote has now spread to Bhangai village of Rajouri,” official sources said. They said the present location, where the firing has started, is adjacent to the earlier site and it is a forest area.
“The encounter that broke out this morning in Surankote area of Poonch in which an army JCO and four soldiers sustained injuries and later succumbed, spread to Bhangai village near DKG in Rajouri District in the evening hours,” sources added.
They said that the entire operation area is the same, but it’s the border of Rajouri-Poonch districts, adding, “fresh contact got established and intermittent firing is going on”. The JCO killed in the gun battle was identified as Naib Subedar Jaswinder Singh from Punjab, while the other soldiers Mandeep Singh, Gajjan Singh, Saraj Singh (also from Punjab) and Vaisakh H. (from Kerala).
