An Indian Army officer and a terrorist was killed in the heavy exchange of fire after a gunfight broke out in Jammu and Kashmir`s Rajouri district on Thursday.
An Army spokesman said terrorists and security forces exchanged fire in Thanamandi area of Rajouri. “One JCO of the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles suffered bullet injuries in the encounter. The JCO was immediately evacuated to a nearest medical facility but succumbed to his injuries,” the spokesman said.
Officials said one more soldier was injured in the gunfight.
The operation at Thanamandi was launched by police, army and CRPF.
In the initial exchange of fire, two army personnel were injured, of whom the JCO succumbed to his injuries, authorities said.
The encounter broke out in the Karyote Kalas area, where a cordon and search operation was launched on Wednesday following reports of suspicious movement.
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“This morning, as the forces were zeroing in on the suspected hideout, terrorists fired upon the them,” they added.
The martyred JCO was residence of Pauri, Garhwal, in Uttarakhand.
This is the second encounter between terrorists and security personnel in the region in August this year. On August 6, two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in the Thanamandi belt.
On August 13, militants hurled a grenade at the house of BJP leader Jasbir Singh, 36 when he and his brother Balbir Singh’s families were sitting in the gallery of the house in Rajouri, wounding seven members of the two families. Later four-year-old nephew of the BJP leader succumbed to the injuries at the government college Rajouri.
(With inputs from ANI)