Jammu, Aug 19: A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Army was killed and a terrorist neutralised in an encounter in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday.
A jawan was injured in the gunfight in Thannamandi area of the district, police sources said.
They said the exact number of terrorists was not known as the location where the operation took place was thickly forest.
One AK-47 rifle, a pistol, magazines and ammunition was found next to the body of the terrorist, the sources said.
Earlier, the Army said during the operation, one JCO of Rashtriya Rifles suffered bullet injuries.
They said the JCO was immediately evacuated to the nearest medical facility where he succumbed to injuries.
“The area was cordoned off while a search operation was launched,” Mukesh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, said.
Senior Superintendent of Police Sheema Nabi Qasaba said on specific inputs, the search operation was launched.
“The terrorist(s) opened fire, which was retaliated and contact established,” said the officer.
The encounter broke out early this morning in Karyote Kalas village, where the cordon and search operation was launched following reports of suspicious movement.
“As the forces were zeroing in on the suspected spot, terrorists fired on them triggering the encounter,” police said.
In a separate incident, a member of a Village Defence Committee on Wednesday night opened fire after noticing suspicious movement in village Kayoli of Poonch district.
“Suspicious movement was being observed for the past few days,” the VDC member said.
He said when there was no reply from them, he fired few rounds from the weapon officially given to him.
He also appealed for issuance of weapons and imparting of training to other village members so that the security grid could be further augmented.
