Army captain, three jawans killed in gunfight with terrorists in J&K's Doda

SRINAGAR: An Army captain and three soldiers were killed and another jawan injured in a gun fight with separatist militants in Jammu and Kashmir's eastern Doda district overnight, official sources in Jammu said on Tuesday.

The Army personnel who laid down their lives in the line of duty have been identified as Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D. Rajesh and sepoys Bijendra and Ajay.

A report from Doda said that a member of J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) has also laid down his life in the encounter. The police have yet to confirm it.

This is the latest in a series of deadly clashes in the Jammu region where the terrorist groups continue to cause mayhem and inflict losses on the security forces.

The militants are reported to have disappeared in thick woods after the clash with the security forces. A massive search operation has been launched in the area to hunt them down, the sources said.

The Indian Army’s Additional Directorate General of Public Information, wrote on ‘X’, “General Updendra Dwivedi, the Chief of Army Staff and all ranks of the Indian Army convey their deepest condolences to the Bravehearts Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, Sepoy Bijendra & Sepoy Ajay, who laid down their lives in the line of duty, while undertaking a counter terrorist operation in Doda in order to ensure peace in the region.” It added, “The Indian Army stands firm with the bereaved families in this hour of grief.”

The official sources said in Jammu that "a contact was established with terrorists in the Uran Baggi forests in the general area of Dessa of Doda in which a captain rank Army officer and three soldiers were martyred in the exchange of fire". They added that the firing continued for about 30 minutes and militants probably fled into the forest area by taking advantage of darkness.

The Army and J&K police reinforcements cordoned off the area and searches are going on, the police sources said.

Earlier the Army's Nagrota (Jammu) -based White Knight Corps (16 Corps) in a post on "X", said, "Operation Kothi II: Based on specific intelligence inputs, a joint operation by Indian Army and JK Police was in progress in the general area North of Doda. Contact with terrorists was established tonight at about 2100 hours in which a heavy firefight ensued. Initial reports suggest injuries to our bravehearts. Additional troops have been moved into the area. Operations are continuing."

The police sources said that the encounter started after the troops of the Army's Rashtriya Rifles and the SOG launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Uran Bagi in the Dessa forest area, about 50km away from the Doda town, around 7.45 pm on Monday.

The operation was launched on a reliable input about the presence of militants in the area, the sources said. In the gunfight five soldiers were injured and four of them succumbed, the sources added.

According to the Army sources, after a brief exchange of fire, the militants ran away from the spot but were chased by the brave troops led by Captain Thapa, despite challenging terrain and thick foliage, leading to another firefight in the woods around 9 pm in which the officer and four jawans were critically injured.

Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, has expressed his anguish over the Army’s suffering losses in the incident but has reiterated that the Indian soldiers are determined to “eliminate the scourge of terrorism and restore peace and order” in J&K.

He wrote on microblogging site ‘X’, “Deeply saddened by the loss of our brave and courageous Indian Army Soldiers in a counter terrorist operation in Urrar Baggi, Doda (J&K). My heart goes out to the bereaved families. The Nation stands firmly with the families of our soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. The counter -terrorist operations are underway, and our soldiers remain committed to eliminate the scourge of terrorism and restore peace and order in the region.”

He also spoke to Indian Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, who apprised him about the ground situation and ongoing operation in the Doda forests. "Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh spoke to COAS General Upendra Dwivedi this morning. RM was apprised of the ground situation and the ongoing Counter Terrorist Op in Doda by the Army Chief,” Office of the Defence Ministry posted on X.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh who also expressed his deep concern over the Army's suffering casualties in the encounter. He wrote on 'X' , “Deeply disturbed by the reports of armed encounter in the Dessa area of district #Doda in my Lok Sabha constituency. Words fall short of condoling and condemning the martyrdom of our Bravehearts. Let all of us join together to defeat the nefarious designs of the enemy and, maintain peace and harmony for which Doda has always been known for.”

J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha also took to 'X' to condemn the killings and pledge that these will be avenged soon. He said, "I am deeply anguished to learn about the cowardly attack on our Army soldiers and JKP personnel in Doda district. Tributes to brave soldiers who made supreme sacrifice protecting our nation. My deepest condolences to members of the bereaved families."

He added, "We will avenge the death of our soldiers & thwart the evil designs of terrorists and their associates. I call upon the people to unite in the fight against terrorism & provide us accurate information so that we can intensify anti-terror operations & neutralise the terror ecosystem.'

The Congress hit out at the government and asked what happened to all those “grand claims” made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on J&K.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on ‘X’, said, “Deeply distressed by the martyrdom of 4 brave Army soldiers, including an officer, in a terror encounter in Jammu & Kashmir’s Doda. Our heart goes out to the families of our Bravehearts, who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of Bharat Mata”.

He also said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the injured, and wish him a speedy and complete recovery. No words of strong and unequivocal condemnation will suffice for these acts of violence being perpetrated by cowardly terrorists”.

Criticising the Modi government over its alleged failure to contain militancy and terrorism in J&K, the Congress president said, “The spate of terror attacks that has gripped Jammu and Kashmir in the past 36 days, needs careful recalibration in our security strategy. The Modi Govt is acting as if everything is “business as usual” and nothing has changed. They must know that increasingly the Jammu region is bearing the brunt of these attacks. We cannot endanger our National Security by indulging in false bravado, fake narratives and high-decibel whitewashing. As a nation, we have to collectively fight the scourge of cross-border terrorism. The Indian National Congress stands strongly with our valiant Armed Forces”.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi blamed BJP’s "wrong policies" for the spurt in terrorist violence in J&K and the continuous loss of lives in these. “It is the demand of every patriotic Indian that the government should take full responsibility for the repeated security lapses and take strict action against the culprits who harm the country and the soldiers,” he wrote on ‘X’.

He added, “These repeated terrorist attacks are revealing the poor condition of Jammu and Kashmir. Our soldiers and their families are bearing the brunt of BJP’s wrong policies.”

On July 8, five Army jawans including a Junior Commissioned Officer were killed in an ambush by militants in the Badnote area of J&K 's frontier Kathua district. There has been no trace of the group of terrorists involved in the deadly attack even as the massive joint Cordon-and-Search-Operation (CASO) launched by the Army alongside the J&K police, the CRPF and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the wooded hills of Kathua to hunt them down continues.

In the Chenab valley itself, a series of clashes have taken place between the security forces and the militants in the past few weeks.

On July 9, militants ambushed a joint patrol of the Army and the J&K police Doda’s Goli-gadi forest area. However, the militants managed to escape after a brief exchange between the two sides.

On June 12, A jawan of the SOG was injured in a gunfight with militants at Tanta, a remote area of the Gandoh-Bhalessa belt of the Doda district.

On June 11, a group of three to four militants targeted a joint check-post of the J&K police and the Army in the district’s Chattergalla area, injuring five soldiers and a SPO.

On June 26, the security forces claimed killing three foreign terrorists in a day-long operation in at Lagor in the Sinoo area of Doda’s Gandoh region.

Over 70 people, including 52 security personnel — mostly from the Army — have been killed in terror-related incidents in the Jammu region since 2021. Most of the casualties were from Rajouri and Poonch districts where 54 terrorists were also eliminated, the officials said. Three terrorists were also killed in Reasi district and two others in Kathua district, they added.

On Sunday, the Army claimed killing three infiltrating militants in a fierce gun battle in the Keran sector of the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K’s Kupwara sector. The Army said that all the slain men were ‘foreign terrorists’ who were ‘neutralised’ after their breaching the fence along the de facto border and sneaking into J & K from PoJK.