JAMMU: Security forces on Monday extended the ongoing search operations to new areas in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua and Rajouri districts to hunt down terrorists following recent encounters in the region, officials said.
A policeman and a terrorist were killed and two police officers were injured in a fierce gunbattle in the remote Kog-Mandli forest village in Billawar tehsil of Kathua district on Saturday evening and a brief exchange of fire took place between terrorists and security forces in Manial Gali in Thanamandi area of Rajouri district on Sunday evening.
Officials said that at least three more terrorists of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) are believed to be hiding in the forest belt.
In Rajouri, the officials said the terrorists fled after a brief encounter with security forces at Manial Gali in Thanamandi area on Sunday evening.
The search operation was called off late Sunday and resumed and extended to new areas early on Monday morning.There has been no fresh contact with the terrorists so far, officials added.
Meanwhile, slain head constable Bashir Ahmed, who lost his life in a fierce gunbattle was laid to rest with full honours at a graveyard near his Jammu residence on Sunday evening.
J-K Director General of Police, Operations and Security, Nalin Prabhat, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu zone, and all personnel paid homage to the fallen cop.