A CRPF inspector was killed on Monday in a gunfight after militants opened fire on a joint security team in Dudu area of Udhampur district, the second such attack in Jammu region in the past five days.
Sources said the joint team of CRPF and J&K Police personnel was on its way to an under-construction police post in Chill village in Dudu subdivision near Kathua district’s Lohai Malhar area, where an Army convoy was attacked on July 8, killing four soldiers and a policeman.
The joint party was on a routine visit to the post when, at around 2.45 pm, militants hiding in the forests opened fire on it, a police officer said. In the exchange of fire that followed, the CRPF inspector was killed.
Sources identified the CRPF inspector as Deepak Kumar of 187 Battalion.
Further details are awaited as the area where the gunfight took place is nearly three hours walking distance from the nearest motorable road, a police officer told The Indian Expressadding that reinforcements have been rushed to the site and a search operation has been launched.
The attack comes three days after the Election Commission announced the much-awaited Assembly elections in J&K in three phases beginning September 18. It is the second such attack on security personnel in Jammu region since August 14 when an Army Captain was killed and a civilian injured in a gunfight in Doda district’s Akar forests adjoining the Patnitop hill station.
The decision to set up the new police post in the area was taken in view of the spurt in militant activities in areas of Kathua, Udhampur and Doda around Kailash Mountain which acts as a central point to the tri-junction of these three districts. It is aimed at thwarting the entry of militants into Dudu and Basantgarh subdivisions from Kathua district’s Machedi area through dense forests.
The attack in Dudu sub division has raised security concerns about the forthcoming Kailash Yatra from August 27 to September 1. Between 50,000-70,000 pilgrims undertake the yatra to Kailash Kund, said Thakur Hansraj, president of the management committee of Vasuki Nag Kailash Kund Yatra Temple, Dudu. He demanded adequate security arrangements for the pilgrims during the yatra period.
After over a decade, militants made their presence felt in Dudu-Basantgarh area’s Chochru Gala heights on April 28 this year when they attacked a joint team of J&K Police and Village Defence Guards (VDGs). One VDG was killed in the attack.
Since then, the security forces launched massive seek and destroy operations to kill the militants who, senior police officers believe, have infiltrated from across the Pakistan border.
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