A day after the killing of a Colonel of the Army’s elite Para Commando unit in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district, Army has launched a massive combing operation in the area to track down the militants. Sources said soldiers of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, 16 Grenadiers, 160 Territorial Army Battalion and 4 Para are taking part in the combing operation, and a cordon has been established around 25 villages in Haihama area that is also close to the Line of Control. [related-post] Though the Army and Police don’t have an accurate information about the number of militants present in the dense forests, they have received inputs that seven to nine militants could be present in the area, sources said. Officials said the group had recently sneaked into the Valley and the Army had picked their movement earlier, but have so far failed to track them. "The group is heavily equipped and had been intercepted twice by the army patrols near Manigah and Hiahama areas since last Saturday," said an officer monitoring the operation. "This could be one of the toughest operations in the recent past."’ Army spokesman confirmed that the operation is still under way. "Our troops are engaged in the operation." Initially the operation was launched on Saturday when Army has spotted a group of militants near the Line of Control in Haihama area, when the militants were intercepted they fired on the troops in which one soldier was killed and another injured and managed to escape. On Monday, Army launched fresh operation when they got inputs that some militants had been spotted near Manigah village close to the forests. The army’s assault team was led by, Commanding Officer, 41 RR Santosh Mahadik; he however was killed when a group of militants fired on the army, another soldier of TA battalion also sustained injuries in the encounter. Earlier, at 15 Corps headquarters wreath laying ceremony was held in Srinagar and officers paid rich tributes to the officer.
