DH NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, Apr 15
Reinforcements were rushed on Tuesday to Lasana area of Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Poonch district, where a brief exchange of fire took place late on Monday evening between the security forces and terrorists.
The Army’s White Knight corps said on X, “Op Lasana. Contact was established with #terrorists during a joint #operation with @JmuKmr Police at #Lasana, #Surankote last night. Additional troops have been inducted, and search operations are ongoing to prevent the terrorists from escaping.”
Three terrorists were killed last week during the three-day-long anti-terrorist operation in Kishtwar district.
The security forces said the three slain Pakistani terrorists included a top commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) outfit, Saifullah.
A large cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from the slain terrorists.
On March 23, a group of five terrorists were spotted in Sanyal village of Kathua district, barely 4 kms inside the International Border.
It is believed that the group had recently infiltrated from Pakistan.
A team of J&K Police immediately reached Sanyal village and engaged the terrorists in a gunfight.
The terrorists escaped to Safiyan Jakhole village, where the police team again took them on, killing two terrorists in the fight.
Four policemen were martyred in the gunfight while three others, including Deputy SP (Border) were injured.
Joint forces started a massive ‘seek & destroy’ operation in the area, which was later expanded to higher reaches of Kathua and Rajouri district.
A brief gunfight took part in Billawar area of Kathua between the joint forces and the terrorists.
Following the Billawar gunfight, two more anti-terrorist operations were started, one in Udhampur and the other in Kishtwar district.
It is yet to be officially confirmed whether or not the three terrorists killed in Kishtwar were the same, who had escaped from Kathua district.
The higher reaches of Kathua district are connected with the higher reaches of other mountainous districts of Jammu division.
Katra-Srinagar rail link inauguration by PM Modi postponed
Jammu, Apr 15: The inauguration programme of the much-awaited Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla-Rail Project (USBRL) by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been postponed due to bad weather.
Official sources here said that the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was scheduled to inaugurate the World’s tallest Chenab Rail Bridge and Anji Khad Rail Bridge on April 19, and flag off the special Kashmir edition of Vande Bharat Express from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra Railway Station to Srinagar.
He was also scheduled to address a public programme at Katra.
“The Prime Minister was scheduled to visit Chenab Rail Bridge and Anji Khad Bridge, for which two helipads were readied, but due to the bad weather forecast from April 19 to 22, the visit has been postponed,” they said.
They said that the fresh dates for the inauguration shall be announced later, which is likely to be April end.
The Katra to Srinagar Vande Bharat Express will have features like heating systems, anti-spall layers, and automatic doors.
The train is designed to operate smoothly in cold weather, down to minus 20 degrees celsius.
The Katra-Srinagar Vande Bharat will run on the world’s highest railway arch bridge and Anji Bridge constructed on the river Chenab in Reasi district.
The Meteorological Department has issued yellow and orange alerts predicting light to moderate rains and snow in Jammu and Kashmir in the coming days.
