Ramban Encounter: 3 Terrorists Killed, Army Soldier Martyred, Hostage BJP Worker Rescued

An Army soldier was killed and three terrorists were gunned down after they took a civilian in Batote market area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Ramban district on Saturday. The hostage, later identified as a BJP worker, was rescued unharmed by the security forces. This was one of the two encounters that broke out in Jammu and Kashmir today morning.

The three terrorists, gunned down by security forces, had tried to stop a passenger bus on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. The alert bus driver sensed the trouble and hit the accelerator and sped away. He later informed the nearest Army post, following which a joint search and cordon operation was started.

When the security forces were closing in, the terrorists opened fire at them and tried to escape. After a hot chase, the terrorists entered a civilian’s house in Batote market area and taken the house owner hostage.

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The terrorists refused to surrender and started firing at the security forces, who had by the time, isolated the house and retaliated strongly. In the gun battle that lasted nearly for five hours, the three terrorists were neutralised. An Army jawan was killed while two Jammu and Kashmir police personnel sustained injuries in the encounter.

"The hostage has been rescued safely. One army personnel has lost his life and two policemen injured. Operation is over now," Jammu Inspector General of police Mukesh Singh said, adding that all the three terrorists have been killed.

Following the encounter ended, ebullient Army soldiers raised "Bharat mata ki jai" and "Pakistan murdabad" slogans to celebrate. News agency ANI shared the video of a group of soldiers raising anti-Pakistan slogans and hailing the mother land. 

#WATCH Jammu & Kashmir: Indian troops celebrate after eliminating three terrorists in Batote town of Ramban district of Jammu Zone. The civilian hostage has also been rescued safely. pic.twitter.com/L3tec790lg

— ANI (@ANI) September 28, 2019

Meanwhile, an unidentified terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces in Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday. The encounter broke out in the upper reaches of Ganderbal, bordering Gurez, which is near the Line of Control (LoC). It is suspected that the killed terrorist could be a part of larger group that infiltrated into the Indian side of the border. The Army has recovered a weapon and ware-like stores were recovered from the encounter spot.