Army Officer Killed During Encounter In J&K’s Doda, 4 Terrorists Neutralised

An officer, who was critically injured during a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda, has succumbed to his injuries, army sources said.

The captain, Deepak Singh, sustained severe injuries and four terrorists were believed to be killed during an ongoing operation in the higher reaches of Jammu region’s Doda district on Wednesday, officials said.

The encounter broke out in a thickly forested area during a cordon and search operation (CASO) launched by a joint team to track down a group of foreign terrorists hiding in the Shivgarh-Assar belt, they said.

Four blood-soaked rucksacks have been recovered from the site of the gunbattle. M-4 carbines were also found, the officials said.

“The terrorists are holed up in a riverine in Assar,” an official said.

The terrorists crossed into Doda from a forest near Patnitop in adjacent Udhampur district after a brief exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists there, they said.

According to officials, security forces established contact with the terrorists around 6 pm in Udhampur on Tuesday. The encounter began about half an hour later and continued intermittently until both sides paused. A cordon was established overnight.

The search was resumed at daylight. At about 7.30 am today, there was a renewed exchange of fire, officials said.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condoled the army officer’s dead and wrote on X, “No words will suffice to express the tragedy at Doda today where Captain Deepak Singh was killed during an encounter. The endless cycle of violence & mayhem in J&K continues to devour the lives of innocents despite tall claims of normalcy by the administration. My deepest condolences to his family.”

(With PTI inputs)