Three infiltration bids foiled; 4 terrorists killed

An army official said, alert soldiers posted along the LoC in Naugam sector noticed some suspicious movement and challenged the intruders. He said, the militants opened fire at positions of security forces which triggered a gun battle. The operation was still on when reports last came in.

Infiltration bids were also reported from Operations in Tangdhar and Gurez sectors, where operations to flush out the militants were in progress. No casualty was reported so far from these sectors, he said.

In another incident, a policeman was killed and two persons, including a police officer, were injured in the ongoing fierce gun battle with militants in Poonch district on Sunday. According to police sources, the encounter started when acting on an input on the presence of militants a police party approached an abandoned building in Allah Pir area of Poonch town of the border district around 8 am on Sunday morning.

According to latest reports army commandos were on the job and heavy exchange of fire was underway. Four militants had been eliminated by commandos when reports last came in. Heavily armed militants numbering three or more were holed up in the under construction building. The deceased police personnel has been identified as Havildar Rajender Kumar of the Jammu Kashmir Police special branch. One of the injured is sub- inspector of Special Operation Group  Manzoor Hussain and another a civilian Tariq.

Meanwhile, in a related development three persons were arrested by BSF in the border belt of Samba district of Jammu when they spotted their suspicious movement, police said on Sunday. The alert troops of BSF observed some suspicious movement near a border post along the borderline in Katav area of the district on Saturday night, they said.

The three persons, who are residents of Bihar and Punjab, were handed over to police after questioning by BSF, police said, adding a case has been registered and investigation initiated.