Jawan killed, three other commandos injured in encounter in J&K’s Kishtwar

A Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of the Army was killed, while three other commandos were injured in an encounter with terrorists in a remote forest area in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

According to the Army’s White Knight Corps, Naib Subedar Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para (Special Forces) was killed while three other commandos were injured in the gunfight that broke out on Sunday, November 10, in Kishtwar’s Bhart Ridge area.

“GOC (General Officer Commanding) White knight Corps and all ranks salute the supreme sacrifice of braveheart, Nb Sub Rakesh Kumar of 2 Para (SF). Sub Rakesh was part of a joint CI (counter-insurgency) operation launched in general area of Bhart Ridge Kishtwar. We stand with bereaved family in this hour of grief {sic}” the Army’s White Knight Corps said in a statement.

The encounter started when joint search teams of the Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police intercepted two terrorists in a remote forest in Kuntwara and Keshwan in Kishtwar, a few kilometres from the spot where the bullet-riddled bodies of two Village Defence Group (VDG) members, Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, were found.

The two terrorists were involved in the kidnapping and killing of the two members of the Village Defence Group, the White Knight Corps said. In the gunfight, four para commandos of the Army were initially injured and were airlifted to Udhampur for treatment. Later, Naib Subedar Kumar succumbed to his injuries during treatment.

A massive search operation was going on in the area, at the time of writing this news, to ascertain the exact location of the terrorists and neutralise them. Earlier on Friday, November 8, in a separate encounter, two terrorists were also killed in Baramulla. This also took place during an anti-terror combing operation, based on intelligence input.