Indian forces kill 3 newly infiltrated Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammad militants

Srinagar: A major terror plot was thwarted on Friday when security forces killed three newly infiltrated Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohommad militants during a vehicle checking at Nagrota on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. A policeman was injured while driver and conductor of the truck were taken into custody.

Police said militants on board a Srinagar bound truck fired on the cops when they were asked to stop at Ban Toll Plaza near Nagrota. Police immediately swing into action and retaliated in which one of the militants was killed. Two others jumped from the truck and fled into the jungles.

Army and paramilitary forces immediately rushed to the spot and launched a cordon and search operation. A contact (firing) with militants was again established and the gunfight continued for few hours before both of them were neutralized. In the incident one cop was injured and has been shifted to hospital.

Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said three slain militants belonged to Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). “The truck was stopped for checking. As our personnel were about to enter the truck, terrorists opened fire. A jawan was injured in the firing. Cops immediately retaliated and killed one terrorist on the spot,” he said.

Singh said an operation was launched with the support of CRPF and Army. “Later two more militants were killed in the gunfight. They all appear to be Pakistani terrorists and belonged to JeM”, he said. DGP noted that this group had crossed the International Border (IB) from Dayalachak area on Thursday evening and they were on way to Srinagar.

Six weapons were recovered from the slain terrorists. Truck driver Mohammad Maqbool has been taken into custody for questioning. “Truck driver and conductor were arrested. Their questioning is underway,” Singh said.

The operation is still in progress and security forces are combing the forests to find other militants, if any. This follows some inputs that suggested that the number of terrorists could be higher.

Sources said this month alone 13 militants have been killed, which is the highest in a single month post abrogation of Article 370 on August 5 last year.

(Representational Image Used)