Fresh encounter breaks out in J&K’s Kathua; Poonch gunfight over

Jammu: A fresh encounter broke out between terrorists and police on Sunday in a forest area in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, while an overnight gunfight in Poonch district ended with one terrorist believed to have suffered injuries, officials said.

A police search party came under fire from terrorists at remote Nuknali Nalla in Bani area of Kathua district late this afternoon, the officials said.

They said the police party returned the fire and an exchange of fire was going on between the two sides when last reports were received.

Reinforcements have been rushed to plug escape routes and help neutralise the terrorists, the officials said.

In Poonch, the officials said the overnight encounter in Pathanateer area near Gursai top in Mendhar sub-division ended around noon.

Blood stains were seen near the scene of the gunfight, suggesting that one of the terrorists had got injured, they said, adding the area is still under cordon and a search operation is underway to hunt down the fleeing militants.

Acting on a tip-off about the presence of two to three terrorists, a joint search operation was launched by the police and Army in the area on Saturday evening.

The search party came under fire from the hiding terrorists, triggering a gunfight, the officials said, adding intermittent exchange of fire continued till this afternoon.