After the killing of four terrorists in the Nagrota encounter in Jammu, Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Zone, on Thursday said that Pakistan is trying to disturb the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections in the Union Territory by sending in infiltrators.
"Since the last few days, Pakistan had been trying to infiltrate the border to disturb the upcoming DDC elections. Jammu and Kashmir Police and security forces jointly are doing very good work. Today, all the four infiltrators were neutralized by the forces in Nagrota encounter," said Kumar.
He added that for the smooth completion of the election process, Jammu and Kashmir Police along with security forces are providing collective security to candidates.
"We are keeping the candidates in a secure area, and sending double escorts with them when they go for campaigning. We have information that 200-250 militants are ready to infiltrate the borders, but our security forces are ready to tackle them," Kumar added.
The DDC elections will be conducted in Jammu and Kashmir in eight phases between November 28 and December 19, and the counting of votes will take place on December 22.
Earlier today, Mukesh Singh, IG, Jammu Zone also said that it was possible they were planning a big attack and targeting the upcoming District Development Council (DDC) elections in the Union territory.
"It's possible that they were planning a big attack. This kind of seizure is unprecedented. It is possible that they were targeting the DDC election. However, we are investigating," Singh said in a press briefing in Jammu.
According to sources, the four terrorists were likely from the United Nations-designated terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
"These terrorists used old modus operandi and had recently infiltrated the Indian side. An investigation is underway," they added.
Earlier today, troops of 160 Battalion, 137 Battalion, Central Reserve Police Force along with Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police were out on duty after receiving information regarding a suspicious truck carrying terrorists. Following this, an encounter broke out between the troops and terrorists at 4.20 am when the truck was attempted to be stopped near the toll plaza, the police said in a statement.
Singh said that the truck driver is absconding and the police are looking for him.
As many as 11 AK-47s rifles, three pistols, 29 grenades, and other devices were seized from the possession of the terrorists.
"During a routine check, a truck was intercepted at 5 am. The driver of the truck fled. During the search, CRPF soldiers and police were fired upon using heavy ammunition, and grenades were also lobbed. More forces were called in and the encounter went on for 3 hours," the IG said.
"After the four terrorists were killed during the encounter, 11 AK-47s rifles, 3 pistols, 29 grenades, and other devices were recovered from them. It seems they had infiltrated with the intention of doing something big and were headed towards Kashmir valley," he added.
As per Jammu and Kashmir Police, these terrorists had freshly infiltrated through the International Border in the Samba sector.
( With inputs from ANI )
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