Huge anti-terror op in J&K's Shopian after militants loot arms, banks

Srinagar: Almost two dozen villages in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir have been cordoned off, as the Indian Army along with other security forces have launched a massive anti-terror operation on Thursday.

The search operations come in the wake of a surge in militancy related incidents in the past few days.

According to reports, more than 3,000 personnel of the Army, Central Reserve Police Force and Jammu and Kashmir police are involved in the operation. Along with villages, orchards and forest areas are also being searched.

Police said that security forces have also received information about movement of militants in these areas.

Recently, videos of large groups of militants -- in some cases as many as 30 -- have surfaced on social media, despite ban imposed by authorities on 22 such sites and applications.

Security agencies believe that these videos were shot in south Kashmir area, especially Shopian district.

South Kashmir has seen a spate of attacks on banks, especially in southern districts of Shopian and Pulwama this month.

However, the operations were being hampered by small groups of people pelting stones at security forces in these areas, the official said.

He said additional security force personnel have been rushed to the area to chase away the stone-pelters.

So far, no casualties have been reported in the clashes between stone pelters and security forces, he said adding the operations were in progress.

Suspected terrorists barged into a police post guarding the court complex of southern Shopian late on Tuesday night, and decamped with five service rifles including four INSAS rifles and an AK-47 rifle.

Earlier, following the two bank robberies that took place in Pulwama on Wednesday, Pulwama Superintendent of Police Rayees Mohammed Bhat revealed that preliminary investigation has established the involvement of the terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

"Until now, we have identified one militant each from Padgampora and Khagpura, which proves Lashkar's involvement in the incident," he said.

"It is clear that militant organisations like these are short of cash. We have also seen that they now carry more advanced technological gadgets. We are continuing the investigation," he added.

The gunmen looted two banks, in separate incidents, in South Kashmir's Pulwama district, within few hours.

Bank robberies and weapon snatching incidents have been on the rise in the Valley recently, triggering an alert.