Mobile internet suspended in J&K’s Poonch and Rajouri after 3 found dead near encounter site

On Thursday afternoon, a Gypsy and a mini-truck were on their way from Bufliaz in Surankote to Thanamandi in Rajouri, where a Rashtriya Rifles unit is located.

As the vehicles with the Army personnel reached below Topa Pir, militants who appeared to have already laid an ambush attacked them, sources said.

On Friday, a massive search operation was underway in the dense forests to track down the terrorists as General Officer Commanding of Jammu-based White Knight Corps Lieutenant General Sandeep Jain and Director General of Police R R Swain inspected the scene of the ambush and reviewed the security situation, PTI reported.

#WATCH | Search operations by the security forces in the forest area of Dera ki Gali in the Rajouri sector in J&K continue after the terrorist attack on Army vehicles on 21st December

(Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/SYggTaVuhd

— ANI (@ANI) December 23, 2023

A team from the National Investigation Agency, headed by a deputy inspector general-rank officer, also visited the ambush site.

“Indian Army and White Knight Corps salute the bravery and supreme sacrifice of four soldiers in Surankote yesterday while fighting the scourge of terrorism,” White Knight Corps or XVI Corps wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

An official told PTI that aerial monitoring with the help of helicopters is also being conducted and sniffer dogs have been pressed into service to track down the terrorists.