J&K: Two Army officers, cop martyred in gunfight with terrorists in Anantnag; Security forces encircle two LeT terrorists holed up
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Anantnag, Sept 14: An Indian Army Colonel, a Major, and a police official martyred in an encounter that broke out between security forces and terrorists in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.
Col Manpreet Singh and Maj Ashish Dhonchak of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, and DSP Humayun Bhat of J&K Police lost their lives during a fierce gunfight with terrorists in the forests surrounding Gadool village of Kokernag in Anantnag district on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
Soon after the killings, the security forces on Thursday encircled two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists including Uzair Khan holed up in a building in Anantnag where they were killed. Uzair Ahmad Khan (28) has been an active terrorist of LeT since July 2022. “Our forces persist with unwavering resolve as they encircle two LeT terrorists,” said Jammu and Kashmir Police.
How the encounter took place?
Preliminary reports indicate that two to three terrorists were spotted and encircled in Gadool following a tip-off. The operation was conducted by a combined force of the Army and police, led by Col Singh, a decorated officer who had earlier received the Sena Medal.
The forces came under fire from behind the trees. In the initial exchange of fire, the three officers were gravely wounded. They died at the military hospital in Batwara, Srinagar, where they were flown for treatment. The other wounded men were airlifted to the Army’s 92-Base Hospital in Srinagar.
Later, a blog called “Kashmir Fight”, allegedly operated from Rawalpindi in Pakistan, claimed that “Resistance Fighters carried out a surprise counterattack on SOG and the Indian Army in Kokernag Gadool in Anantnag area”.
The security forces have recovered a large quantity of warlike stores, including medicines, with Pakistan markings during a search amid the encounter that continued on Wednesday evening according to officials. Lt Col Suneel Bartwal, Defence PRO, said Indian army and Jammu and Kashmir police were tracking the movement of two terrorists since September 7.
"Troops cordoned the terrorists and heavy firefight ensued on September 12 wherein one terrorist was killed on the same night. Despite bad weather and hostile terrain, the second terrorist was pursued and neutralized on the morning of September 13 after heavy firing throughout the night," the PRO statement added.
"Large quantity of warlike stores have been recovered, including Pakistan marking medicines. One soldier of 63 RR has made the supreme sacrifice and three soldiers have been injured, along with an SPO. An Army dog has also laid down her life," the statement added.
Who was behind the killings?
The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow group of the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba have taken the responsibility saying that the killings were in revenge for killing of terrorist Riyaz Ahmad alias Abu Qasim Kashmiri. He was shot from point-blank range by unidentified gunmen inside Al-Qudus mosque in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir's (POK) Rawalkot on Friday. He was one of the main conspirators behind the Rajouri terror attack in J&K in January this year.
Who were the Army soldiers, and cop martyred?
1. Col Singh had dedicated approximately 17 years of his life to the Army. He was on the verge of completing his tenure with Rashtriya Rifles in just four months. Following this, Singh was expected to be posted at a peaceful station. Singh belonged to 12th Sikh Light Infantry. Originally from Bharonjian near Mullanpur in New Chandigarh, the colonel’s family resided in DLF, New Chandigarh. He is survived by his wife Jagmeet Grewal, a lecturer in economics in Haryana, and their two children — a six-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. His father was a Naik in the Army.
2. Maj Dhonchak’s original unit was 15th Sikh LI. A Sena Medal recipient in 2023 hailed from Panipat district in Haryana, but further details about him were not available at the time this report was filed.
3. DSP Bhat of J&K Police’s special operation group is survived by his wife and three-month-old son, having gotten married only last year. The DSP was the son of former DIG Ghulam Hasan Bhat and originally hailed from Tral in Pulwama district. The family now lives at VIP colony near Srinagar airport in Humhama.
The attack comes a day after an Army personnel and Kent, a six-year-old female Labrador of the Army's dog unit, were killed and three security personnel injured in the gunfight in South of Pir Panjal at Rajouri in Jammu region. Two terrorists were killed in an encounter in the remote Narla village.