A terrorist was killed and another was shot at when the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police, in a joint operation, foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. A search operation in the area was on.

According to initial reports, two to three Pakistani terrorists attempted to infiltrate the LoC at Digwar sub-sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

A terrorist was gunned down and another was shot at as the security forces on Monday thwarted an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.

The alert troops in Degwar sector in the district noticed the movement of some terrorists attempting to sneak into this side under the cover of darkness in the early hours of the day and engaged them in an encounter, officials said.

In a joint operation by the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, two terrorists who had infiltrated the LoC from the Pakistan side were engaged in a gunfight with the security forces.

During the gunfight, one terrorist was killed and another was shot at while trying to run back to the LoC. He was shot at and was seen falling down.

A search operation was carried out in the area to recover the bodies of the terrorists. While the first terrorist was gunned down, it was not known whether the second terrorist was killed or injured.

Link To Hizbul Mujahideen

According to the police, the terrorist killed has been identified as Muneser Hussian who had fled to the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) in 1993 before he returned to Jammu & Kashmir in 1996.

Muneser -- who had executed a number of attacks on the special forces -- returned to POK two year later in 1998.

Police records suggest his two wives and children are residents of Surankote in Poonch. Muneer Hussain was also a close aide of Maulana Dawood Kashmir, a confidant of Syed Salahuddin, the Hizbul Mujahideen chief.

India Today has learnt that he recently attended a Hizbul Mujahideen meeting held in Pakistan's Islamabad to revive the outfit in Jammu and Kashmir.

Jammu-based defence PRO Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said an Army ambush party established contact with terrorists in the Garhi battalion area around 2 am.

“Two individuals were observed moving across the LoC in the general area of Degwar Terva. In the ensuing firefight, one terrorist was seen dropping while the second moved towards Pintu Nala,” the officer said.

Sources said that Pakistan-based terror groups were planning to carry out a major terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of Independence Day.

Security has been beefed up both at the LoC and the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir.

Second Infiltration Bid Foiled In 24 Hours

This is the second infiltration attempt along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir in the past 24 hours.

On Sunday, one terrorist was killed after the Indian Army foiled an infiltration bid along the LoC in Kupwara district, the police said.

According to a police spokesperson, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by the police and Army in the Dakhen-Amrohi area of Tangdhar sector in Kupwara based on information about possible infiltration attempts.

"During the search operation, the movement of terrorists, trying to infiltrate our side, was observed. They were challenged by the joint party in which one terrorist was neutralised," he said.

Taking advantage of the thick bushes and rugged terrain, two to three other terrorists escaped back to the Pakistan side of the LoC, the spokesperson said.

The police spokesperson said that from the incriminating materials recovered from the site of the encounter, it was believed that the killed terrorist was a Pakistani national.

The arms and ammunition seized included an AK rifle, an AK magazine, 15 AK rounds, five 9mm pistols, one 15mm pistol, eight pistol magazines and 32 bullets of a 9mm pistol.

"The recovery of these materials underscores the nefarious intentions of the infiltrators and their attempts to disrupt peace and stability in the region," the spokesperson said.