Search op in Rajouri after VDG opens fire at terror suspect; high alert in Chenab region

JAMMU: A village defence guard (VDG) opened fire after allegedly spotting a terror suspect in a remote village in J&K’s Rajouri district, even as security forces intensified surveillance in the upper reaches of Chenab region — Doda and Kishtwar districts — officials said Wednesday.

Officials said the VDG fired about six rounds in the air upon allegedly sighting a terror suspect in Dali village in Rajouri’s Kalakote area late Tuesday. None was injured in the firing. “A joint team of the Army and police subsequently rushed to the spot and launched a search operation in the area, but found nothing suspicious,” an official said.




A series of anti-terror operations was underway in the upper reaches of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban districts in Chenab region, especially in areas bordering Udhampur and Kathua districts, officials said. Similar operations were also ongoing in the two frontier districts of Rajouri and Poonch, as well as Reasi, which shares a border with Rajouri-Ramban in Jammu Division and Kulgam in south Kashmir, said officials.

Security forces were anticipating that terrorists hiding in non-habituated (higher reaches) may try to enter the mainland, in view of the closure of mountain passes, to get commodities. The intensified operations by Army’s Rashtriya Rifles and J&K Police’s SOG were also extended to a large area in Chenab region, said officials.

The Army, meanwhile, stepped up efforts to strengthen grassroots security by imparting training to VDGs — the “first responders” in the security grid — in Doda district. On Tuesday, about 150 VDGs from 17 remote villages along Doda-Chamba border, including women volunteers, underwent intensive training in handling automatic rifles, minor tactics, self-defence, bunker construction and repelling enemy attacks, officials said. The training was being conducted at Shingini Panchayat in Bhalessa, around 90km from Doda district HQ, to equip volunteers with the necessary skills to protect their villages and act as the first line of defence, especially in vulnerable areas, an official said.

Separately, a suspected Pakistani drone was spotted hovering briefly over Phulpur area near the International Border in Samba district late Tuesday. “Soon after the sighting, police and BSF personnel rushed to the spot and conducted a thorough search to ascertain whether any payload containing weapons or narcotics had been air-dropped, but found nothing on the ground,” an official said.
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