Two soldiers killed, 2 injured in Kishtwar; polls there in 4 days

The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps said four Army personnel had been injured in the firefight. Sources said that two personnel succumbed to injuries while being taken to the Chatroo hospital.

The gunbattle in Kishtwar — it will vote in the first phase of the Assembly elections in the Union Territory on September 18 — took place a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to adjoining Doda. He is scheduled to address a public meeting in Doda Saturday.

Giving details of its ‘Op Shahpurshal’, the White Knight Corps, in a post on X, said a joint operation with J&K Police was launched in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar following intelligence inputs. It said contact was established with terrorists at 3.30 pm.

The operation, it said, was “in progress”.

Earlier, a police spokesperson said there had been an exchange of fire between search teams of security forces and terrorists hiding in the Pingnal Dugadda forest area, upper reaches of Naidgam village under the jurisdiction of the Chatroo police station.

Two to three terrorists are reported to be hiding in the forests, sources said, adding more reinforcements have been sent to the site of the gunbattle.

Two days ago, security forces and police killed two terrorists in Khandara Top area of Basantgarh in Udhampur district. In the last two months, nearly a dozen people, including two Army Captains and seven soldiers, have been killed in separate attacks in the upper reaches of Doda, Udhampur and Kathua districts.

In view of the Assembly elections, tight security measures have been put in place in Kishtwar and the districts of Doda and Ramban. While additional security forces have been deployed to secure inhabited areas and polling stations, Army troops and police have been carrying out seek-and-destroy operations in the forest areas.

Modi’s visit to Doda town Saturday – he will be addressing an election rally at the sports stadium there – will be the first in decades by a serving Prime Minister. In 1979, Indira Gandhi addressed a rally there.

During the 2014 Assembly polls, Modi addressed a rally in adjoining Kishtwar district.

Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts, which form part of the Chenab Valley region of Jammu province, are going to polls along with some constituencies in South Kashmir in the first phase of the Assembly elections on September 18.

The BJP hopes to repeat its 2014 performance in the Chenab Valley region where it won four of the six Assembly constituencies, barring Inderwal and Banihal.

Post the 2022 delimitation of Assembly constituencies, two new constituencies – Doda West and Padder-Nagseni – have been carved out in Doda and Kishtwar districts, raising the total number of Assembly constituencies in the Chenab Valley region to eight. The other six are Doda, Bhaderwah, Inderwal, Kishtwar, Ramban and Banihal.