Toll touches seven as Army foils major infiltration bid

Two infiltrators and two soldiers were killed on Saturday when troops foiled a major infiltration bid along the LoC in Naugam sector of North Kashmir's Kupwara district

The death toll in the foiled infiltration bid in the Naugam sector has climbed to seven after two more terrorists were gunned down by the Army in the 30-hour-long encounter. One more soldier laid down his life while battling the heavily-armed terrorists on the Line of Control (LoC).

Two infiltrators and two soldiers were killed on Saturday when troops foiled a major infiltration bid along the LoC in Naugam sector of North Kashmir's Kupwara district.

The encounter started in the wee hours of Saturday when troops noticed suspicious movement on the LoC. Immediately, troops moved in and challenged the terrorists who opened a heavy volume of fire on the security forces, triggering a fierce encounter which continued till Sunday.

"Four terrorists have been killed so far. Three soldiers have attained martyrdom. Four weapons and other war like stores have been recovered," said Colonel Rajesh Kalia, Defence spokesman at Srinagar.

The operation is still continuing and the security forces are busy in sanitising the entire area along the LoC. "Sanitisation operation is still on," said Colonel Kalia.

This is the first major infiltration bid that has been foiled by the Army since the Border Action Team (BAT) of Pakistan army badly mutilated the bodies of two soldiers after they violated the sanctity of the Line of Control (LoC) and crossed into Indian Territory at Krishna Ghati sub-sector of Poonch district in Jammu division on May 1.

The infiltration bid comes less than 18 hours after Defence Minister Arun Jaitely said the soldiers are fully confident of not allowing the infiltration from the other side of border.

Data released by the Ministry of Home Affairs revealed that infiltration from across the border has shown a three-fold jump in 2016. Figures reveal that have been 364 infiltration attempts last year compared to 121 in 2015.

Meanwhile, massive hunt has been launched to nab the cop who decamped with four rifles in Budgam area. Constable Naveed Mushtaq decamped with fours rifles from the guard duty room of Food Corporation of India at Budgam on Saturday. Police suspect Naveed might have joined the terrorist ranks.

Authorities also foiled the moderate Hurriyat Conference march to Eidgah to commemorate the death anniversary of Mirwaiz Mohommad Farooq and Abdul Gani Lone who were gunned down by terrorists on this day in 1990 and 2002 respectively. Curfew like restrictions was imposed in old city and moderate Hurriyat chief Mirwaiz Umar Farooq was placed under house detention.

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