Constable among 2 killed, 10 arrested,infiltration bid foiled in J

Srinagar, June 11 (UNI) Two people, including a constable of Jammu and Kashmir police, were killed while troops foiled an infiltration bid and arrested ten Over Ground Workers (OGW) in the state overnight.

An official spokesman said a group of two militants entered the house of head constable Khurshid Ahmad Malik and shot him dead late last night.

He said the militants later entered the house of one Saleem Bhat in the same locality and fired at the inamtes. The house owner was killed and his wife wounded, he said, adding that the injured was hospitalised.

Six militants, responsible for hurling grenades in Doda area, were arrested by police.

A defence ministry spokesman said troops guarding borders had laid an ambush near the Line of Control (LoC) at Kalbani Nar in north Kashmir last night. However, in the wee hours today, troops noticed a group of five militants sneaking into this side from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK), he added.

When challenged and asked to surrender at a particular place on this side of the border, the infiltrators, armed with automatic weapons, opened fire. The fire was returned and the fierce gun battle continued for about half an hour.

Later, on search of the area, there were blood marks on the ground which suggested that one or two militants had got injured in the firing, he said, adding that one AK rifle, two magazines and 57 rounds of AK ammunitions were recovered from the site.

A massive hunt has been launched to nab the militants in the forest area. However, it is believed that they might have escaped back into POK.

More than two dozen infiltration attempts were made by the militants from POK in the state since January this year after snow melted on the higher reaches. About 40 militants were gunned down by the security forces immediately after they sneaked into this side. However, several militants had managed to enter the valley.

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