The incident took place around 7:45 am, when armed forces accompanied by VDG member Muhammad Shareef, intercepted some of the individuals moving suspiciously in the area, officials said. The interception triggered an exchange of fire in which Sharief was injured and later he succumbed to injuries. Shareef, 48, a resident of lower Basantgarh area was carrying a .303 rifle.
“J&K Police sprang into action after intel on terrorists near Basantgarh police station of Udhampur district. Clash erupted as Police confronted hiding terrorists. One VDC member was injured. Joint operation underway with the army and CRPF. Operation is going on in that area,” J&K police informed.
The officials claim that they had received inputs regarding movement of suspicious individuals late Saturday evening and on Sunday morning a party of police picket Sang area carrying along with them VDG members proceeded towards Chochru Gala heights where a face-off ensued with a group of hiding militants. “The input is regarding the movement of two militant groups around five in each group who have infiltrated recently from Kathua district and are on their way to Kashmir via Chenab Valley.” said an official.
Search operation in the area is going on and the army has airdropped special forces in the forest area to track the unidentified gunmen. However, till late Sunday evening no fresh contact with the gunmen was established.
VDGs formerly known as Village Defence Committees is a civilian militia first established in the mid-1990s in Chenab Valley of Jammu division to counter the militancy in remote hilly villages along the Line of Control. However VDCs were disbanded with the decline in militancy in the region and scores of cases of rights violations including murder, torture and rape. In 2022 Home Ministry revived the force as VDGs and some of the members were given automatic rifles and training by the CRPF and army in Rajouri and Poonch areas, following the killing of seven civilians, in Dangri area of Rajouri. The government also sanctioned a monthly remuneration of Rs 4,000 to 4500 Indian rupees for VDG members.Last few weeks have witnessed an increase in violence in the Union territory, where the Lok Sabha elections have been held in two constituencies of Udhampur and Jammu so far, while polls in other three constituencies in Kashmir, are scheduled in the coming phases.This is the fourth incident of violence in over two weeks. Earlier on April 24, two army men were injured in an encounter in Bandipora area of northern Kashmir, but there were no reports of casualty from either side. On April 22, suspected militants shot dead government employee Mohammad Razaq in Shadra Sharief in Rajouri on when he came out of a local masjid. His brother works in the territorial army. On April 11, one militant Danish Sheikh, allegedly associated with Lashkar e Taiba, was killed in an encounter in Pulwama district of southern Kashmir. The encounter in Pulwama took place after a gap of over three months. On April 17, unidentified gunmen shot dead a non-local man from Bihar in Bijbehara area of Anantnag in southern Kashmir.
