Jammu– A gunfight erupted Thursday morning in the Bihali area of Basantgarh in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district, with security forces confirming that four terrorists are currently trapped in the encounter zone.
Inspector General of Police (Jammu Zone), Bhim Sen Tuti, told reporters that contact with the militants was established around 8:30 a.m. “The weather conditions are currently unfavorable, but based on our assessment, four terrorists are holed up in the area,” he said.
The gunbattle began after security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation (CASO) based on specific intelligence inputs regarding suspicious movement in the Basantgarh region. According to officials, troops came under heavy automatic gunfire, prompting an exchange that is still underway. Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the site to support the operation.
The encounter comes amid heightened security in Jammu and Kashmir following the April 22 Pahalgam massacre, where 26 civilians were killed in Baisaran meadow by terrorists backed by Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). Since then, security forces across the union territory have been on high alert.
As the Amarnath Yatra approaches—scheduled to begin on July 3 and conclude on August 9, coinciding with the Shravan Purnima festival—multiple layers of security have been deployed. Additional companies from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) have been stationed to ensure the safety of the annual pilgrimage.
Pilgrims travel to the cave shrine situated 3,888 meters above sea level in the Kashmir Himalayas via two routes: the longer Pahalgam path and the shorter Baltal trail. Ahead of the yatra, a comprehensive mock security drill was successfully conducted on Wednesday across all districts on the pilgrimage route.
Security forces have also taken control of mountaintops to prevent infiltration attempts by terrorists. In addition to the two main base camps—Baltal in Ganderbal and Nunwan in Anantnag—several transit camps have been set up along the routes.
Ensuring the safe and peaceful conduct of this year’s Amarnath Yatra is seen as a significant challenge for law enforcement, especially after recent hostilities between India and Pakistan, during which Indian forces targeted terror infrastructure across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). (Source: IANS)
