7 Terrorists Killed, Policeman Dead In 4 Encounters In Jammu And Kashmir

The encounter in Poonch began after the police received a tip-off about the presence of two to four heavily-armed terrorists inside an under-construction government building, close to an army camp.

As cops cordoned off the building, they came under heavy fire during which a policeman died and a sub-inspector was injured. After a day-long fierce gunbattle, all the three terrorists were killed and an elderly couple who had been taken hostage were released.

In another encounter near the Line of Control in Nowgam Sector, in north Kashmir, the Army killed four terrorists.

The encounter started after the army intercepted a heavily-armed group of terrorists trying to infiltrate. Four terrorists, believed to be Pakistanis, were killed. Four AK-47 rifles and a large cache of ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter.

 Two more infiltration attempts have been foiled in Tangdhar and Gurez sectors, operations are underway.

 Dozens of people, meanwhile, were injured  after a joint team of security forces carried out raids at Pulwama's Karimabaf village.  Police confirmed that 25 villagers were injured during clashes and have been shifted to hospitals.

 Villagers say a large number of residential houses were ransacked during the raids. The Army, paramilitary forces and the police have jointly conducted the raids.

In the evening, Home Minister Rajnath Singh chaired a high-level meeting on Kashmir, which was attended by the National Security Adviser and intelligence chiefs

 Thousands of soldiers have been pushed into Kashmir since Friday to strengthen anti-terror operations, from which the focus had shifted following the outbreak of protests since the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani on July 8.

 Sources said the military would even be deployed in areas it vacated in the last two years after they were considered militancy -free. These are also the areas which have seen the most protests since the death of Burhan Wani.