An Army Colonel, a Major and a Deputy Superintendent of Police of the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police were martyred in a gunfight with terrorists in Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday morning.
The martyred have been identified as Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19 Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish Donchak, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Himayun Muzamil Bhat.
The operation against the terrorists began on Tuesday evening in Gadole area but was called off during the night. This morning, the hunt for the terrorists resumed after information started trickling that they were spotted at a hideout, the officials said.
The search party, led by the senior officers, came under heavy fire, leaving the three officers critically injured. They were airlifted to Srinagar, where they succumbed to their injuries.
“All the casualties took place in the initial bursts of firing. The firing was so intense that the joint team got little time to react,” said a senior police officer. “The terrorists fired incessantly, hampering the quick evacuation of the injured officers.”
