Over two dozen detained during massive search operation in J&K's Kathua

Jammu: Over two dozen people have been detained for questioning by police so far, during the three-day-long massive search operation to trace the terrorists responsible for ambushing an army vehicle in J&K’s Kathua district on Monday, officials said on Wednesday.

The massive search operation launched from three different sides of Kathua, Udhampur and Bhaderwah continues despite intermittent rain in these areas.

Official sources said the terrorists are still hiding inside the forested area adjacent to Badnota village in Kathua district where five soldiers were killed and five others injured in the Monday terrorist attack.

The detained people are being questioned about the terrorist ambush and it is expected that some vital clues will emerge from their interrogation, the source said.

Police and paramilitary forces have been deployed in sufficient strength in the forested areas of Udhampur, Samba, Poonch, and Rajouri districts as well. The search operation has also been extended to Rajouri and Poonch districts as well.

The Army's elite para commandos, who specialise in carrying out surgical strikes in densely forested areas, are deployed deep in the forest area in Kathua. The search operation is assisted by drones, sniffer dogs, helicopters, metal detectors etc.

In Doda district, the search operation is presently going on in the Ghandi Bhagwah forests.

Villagers in Badnota village of Kathua are concerned about their safety since Monday’s terror ambush is the first terror attack in this otherwise peaceful area, nearly 150 km away from Kathua town. Security forces believe that the two terrorists who carried out the ambush on Monday near Badnota village have sustained injuries and could not have covered a long distance on foot.

All vehicular movement to and from the areas under scanner are thoroughly checked and cleared only after each person travelling by any kind of vehicle is properly identified and frisked.