Four militants in truck from Punjab killed in Jammu: Police

Additional Director General of Police (Jammu) Mukesh Singh said seven AK 47 rifles, one M4 rifle and three pistols, along with ammunition, were seized in the operation. He said the militants were hiding inside a truck carrying straw and on its way from Punjab to Kashmir. The vehicle’s driver is absconding, and an alert has been sounded to apprehend him as well as its owner, he said.

Detailing the events that led to the incident, the ADGP said that a Quick Response Team (QRT) of police and security forces, who were maintaining “high vigil” in view of the Republic Day on January 26, noticed the “unusual movement” of a truck on the highway and started following it.

As the vehicle reached near the checkpoint at Sidhra bridge around 7 am, the police signalled for it to stop and asked its driver to step down, Singh said. The driver responded, but then ran away taking advantage of the dense fog in the area at the time, he said.

The police and security forces at the checkpoint immediately started searching the truck, and faced gunfire from the four militants hiding inside. An exchange of fire ensued and lasted about 90 minutes during which all the four were killed, the ADGP said.

The vehicle, which was loaded with bags of straw, caught fire in the firefight even as security forces cordoned it off and stopped traffic movement on that stretch, he said. The police are yet to ascertain the location where the militants infiltrated from across the border.

The latest incident follows the killing of two Pakistani terrorists days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to a village in Samba district in April. In another such incident ahead of Independence Day, militants attacked an Army camp in Rajouri, killing four soldiers.