JAMMU, Dec 4: As security personnel conducted extensive search operations to extract suspected terrorists from the forested areas of Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri and Poonch districts, three people were taken into custody for interrogation, officials said on Monday. According to officials, when the last reports were received, combined search activities involving the police, Army, and CRPF were under way in various locations within Budhal, Thanamandi, Sunderbani, Kalakote in Rajouri, and Mendhar in Poonch.They reported that on Sunday night, three people were taken from Barote in Budhal for interrogation. According to officials, searches began this morning in Muradpur, Bathuni, Ghai Bhawal (Sunderbani), Tatta Pani Broh in Kalakote, Ghambir Mughlan in Manjakote, and Rajdhani-Thanamandi in Rajouri. They claimed that close the Line of Control (LoC) in the Mendhar sector of the Poonch district, in the villages of Gursai, Jabranwali Gali, Saruti, and Ari, security personnel are also conducting combing operations. According to officials, information on suspicious activity in the wooded areas prompted the start of the activities.Following a bloody gunfight that left five troops, including two captains, dead on November 22 and 23, in the Dharmsal belt’s Bajimaal sector of Rajouri, searches were stepped up in the twin border districts. During the course of the 36-hour engagement, two terrorists from Pakistan who were part of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group were eliminated. During one such raid on December 2, security personnel found a 5 kg IED in the Topa Hilltok neighbourhood of Darhal. Later on, it was destroyed.
