Two militants and an officer of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) were killed during a fierce gun battle near Sunjwan military station in Jammu on Friday, two days ahead of the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the region.
The two militants who were killed had attacked a bus carrying CISF personnel at Sunjwan in Jammu. While one assistant sub-inspector was killed in the attack, four personnel were injured.
The attack came amid heightened security in Jammu ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit on April 24.
The militants attacked the CISF bus after security forces launched an operation at Jalalabad area of Sunjwan near an Army cantonment at 4:30am.
The CISF said in a statement that a bus carrying 15 CISF personnel came under attack near Chaddha Camp in Jammu.
The bus was carrying CISF personnel for morning duties. After the attack, the CISF personnel retaliated, forcing the militants to run away.
After the attack, reinforcements reached the spot and engaged the militants, who were holed up in a house.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Jammu region, Mukesh Singh told reporters that two militants have been killed.
“Given the nature of arms and ammunition recovered from the slain [militants], which includes satellite phones and crucial documents, it seems the slain were planning a fidayeen strike,” he said.
It is a matter of investigation how militants reached Sunjwan close to a military installation at a time when the security has been heightened ahead of the high-profile visit of the prime minister, the first after the revocation of Article 370.
Modi is scheduled to address a big conference of Panchayati Raj institutions (PRI) at Palli in Samba. Around 80,000 to 1 lakh PRI members are expected to attend the event.
He will also lay foundation stones of several developmental projects and inaugurate the 11.5km-long Qazigund-Banihal railway tunnel, the second longest in the country after the 13km railway tunnel (T49) being constructed in Ramban.
