Jammu: Security forces on Saturday re-established contact with a group of terrorists holed up in the Dolgam area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district, and a fresh encounter is currently underway, officials said. The operation is part of the ongoing joint anti-terror offensive codenamed Operation Trashi-I, launched earlier this month in the high-altitude forests of the Chatroo belt.
“During the ongoing joint Operation Trashi-I, contact with terrorists was re-established in the early hours of January 31 in the general area of Dolgam by troops of the White Knight Corps, Jammu and Kashmir Police, and CRPF,” the Army’s Nagrota-based White Knight Corps said in a post on X. A tight cordon has been laid and the operation is in progress, with intermittent exchange of fire reported from the area, officials added.
According to sources, the renewed contact comes nearly two weeks after an initial encounter on January 18 in the Singhpora–Chatroo area, in which Havildar Gajendra Singh of the Army’s Special Forces was killed and several soldiers were injured when terrorists opened fire from higher ground. Since then security forces have been pursuing a group of two to three Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists. The terrorists are believed to be trained in jungle warfare and familiar with the rugged terrain.
Officials said intelligence inputs from multiple agencies were pooled to pinpoint the latest location of the terrorists, enabling the fresh engagement in Dolgam forests. Drones, UAVs and other surveillance assets have been deployed to prevent the militants from slipping through the cordon. Additional troops have been inducted to plug escape routes, officials said.
As a precautionary measure, mobile internet services have been temporarily suspended within a six-kilometre radius, covering Singhpora, Chingam and Chatroo, to prevent potential misuse by anti-national elements during the operation. Senior Army and police officers are monitoring the situation. Further details are awaited as the encounter continues.
