SRINAGAR: An Army major and three soldiers were killed in a gun fight raging in Gurez area along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipore district since midnight Monday night. Officials said that two militants among a group of infiltrators have also been killed. Bandipore’s Senior Superintendent of Police Zulfikar Ahmad said the firing started at around 1 am on Tuesday.
Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia in Srinagar said, “A major infiltration bid has been foiled. Two terrorists were killed. One of our officers and three soldiers have laid down their lives while foiling the infiltration bid.” Earlier, Bandipore’s deputy commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary tweeted, “Ceasefire violation in Gurez.” Some media reports also reported about the armies of India and Pakistan trading fire along the de facto border in same area. When asked about it, the defence spokesman told this correspondent “As far as I know it was an infiltration bid which has been foiled by our alert jawans. The clash is going on.”
He identified the slain Army personnel as Major KP Rane, Havaldar Jamie Singh, Havaldar Vikramjeet and rifleman Mandeep of 36 Rashtriya Rifles. Meanwhile, the government has said that 69 militants have infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir from across the border till June this year, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. There were 133 attempts of infiltration by militants from across the border and there were 69 net infiltrations.
