Udhampur Firing incident: Dr. Jitendra Singh appeals not to panic or listen to unconfirmed rumours

JAMMU: Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh has urged people not to panic or listen to unconfirmed rumours, after a Village Defence Guard (VDG) was martyred in a gunfight with recently infiltrated terrorists in a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district early Sunday.

“In cognisance of the concerns expressed by our local representatives and PRIs in the Basantgarh area of district Udhampur following this morning’s firing incident in which one VDG, unfortunately, lost his life, I appreciate that the authorities have conceded our request to call Army for deployment in the area. It is a public appeal not to panic or listen to unconfirmed rumours.” the minister tweeted.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu zone, Anand Jain, who rushed to the area to supervise the anti-terrorist operation, said a massive search operation is on to track down and neutralize the terrorists who have infiltrated from Pakistan.

Jain led the wreath laying ceremony of slain VDG member Mohd Sharief at Basantgarh police station this evening and saluted his supreme sacrifice for the nation.

The ADGP said two groups of terrorists are believed to be present in the area after they recently infiltrated from across the border.

“Where from the terrorists have infiltrated is a matter of investigation which is going on but it is certain that this group is a freshly infiltrated one,” he said when asked about possible infiltration of the terrorists through the International Border from adjoining Kathua district.

He said the strength of the two groups, as per preliminary investigation, is between four and six but their affiliation is not known immediately. “We are working on various inputs and the area is being sanitized to hunt them down with deployment of additional forces.”

Earlier, official sources said there was information about movement of two separate groups of terrorists, who infiltrated recently, from Kathua to Basantgarh.

One of the groups with five members was confronted, while there was no trace of the other group, which has four members and whose movement was last reported in the Machedi top area bordering Kathua, they said.

The sources said the terrorists are believed to have infiltrated through the International Border from Kathua district and are heading to Kashmir via Chenab valley, taking advantage of the thick forest.

Meanwhile, Pawan Kumar, a VDG member, demanded equipping them with automatic weapons to take on the terrorists effectively.

“We are ready and will not allow them to settle down,” he said.