Army busts 2 militant hideouts in J&K’s Baramulla, recovers huge arms cache

During the search operation an AKS-74U with magazines, five pistols and magazines, and 24 grenades were recovered, defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said.

Security forces cordon off the area during an encounter with militants in Kashmir | representational image | PTI

Srinagar: Two militant hideouts were busted along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and a huge cache of arms and ammunition recovered after Army launched a search operation, a defence spokesperson said on Tuesday.

It seems, the modus operandi was to drop arms and ammunition in caches near the LoC so that the overground workers or militants pick the same for carrying out their activities in the hinterland, the spokesperson said.

It shows the desperate attempts by Pakistan-based militant groups to infiltrate weapons into Jammu and Kashmir for terror activities with the active connivance of Pakistan Army, he added.

Alert troops detected movement of suspicious people along the LoC in Rampur sector of Baramulla district, in north Kashmir on Sunday, defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia said.

He said the movement was from a village close to the LoC and the suspects crossed into Indian territory.

Due to terrain of thick foliage and weather condition, an alert of likely infiltration attempt was sounded. The Surveillance Grid was beefed up all across the area and along the likely infiltration routes. Ambushes were sited to thwart any attempt of infiltration and surveillance continued throughout the night, he said.

Col Kalia said the next morning, a search of the area was carried out and after an extensive search of seven hours, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was recovered from well-concealed locations in two hideouts in Rampur Sector.

The cache of arms recovered comprises five AK series rifles (along with six magazines and two sealed boxes with 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition), six pistols (with nine magazines and six rounds), twenty-one grenades, two UBGL grenades and two Kenwood radio-sets with one antenna, he said.

The defence spokesman said the area has villages ahead of the anti-infiltration fence and the suspected modus operandi is to drop war-like stores in caches near the LoC, wherefrom the overground workers or militants would pick the same for further transportation into the hinterland for terror activities.

He said similar attempts were made on July 22, when inputs were received regarding likely weapon drop along the LoC ahead of the anti-infiltration fence.

During the search operation in the same sector, one AKS-74U with magazines, five pistols (one with Chinese markings) and magazines, 24 grenades & other warlike stores were recovered, Col Kalia said.

The spokesperson said the modus operandi shows desperate attempts by Pakistan-based militant groups to infiltrate weapons into J-K for terror activities, with the active connivance of Pakistan Army.

Robust surveillance and Line of Control domination activities will continue to deny all such misadventures, he added.