Four soldiers including a Major-rank officer martyred in an encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 18. According to a news18 report, during the encounter two militants including a JeM mastermind, Kamran was killed. One militant is still believed to be trapped. Apart from these, two soldiers are said to be injured, and a civilian has been killed in the gunbattle.

The encounter took place between the CRPF and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists after a search operation was launched based on a tip-off that JeM terrorists were hiding in the Pinglena area, Pulwama district.

The encounter took place after four days of the heinous terror attack that killed over 40 CRPF personnel after a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosive-laden car into a vehicle in a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway.

Martyred Soldiers

All the four killed in the encounter belong to the 55 Rashtriya Rifles. The soldiers identified were Major DS Dondial, head constable Save Ram, sepoy Ajay Kumar, and sepoy Hari Singh. The slain civilian was later identified as Mushtaq Ahmad. It is predicted that one militant is still trapped in the area.

What Happened?

According to the India Today report, a search operation was launched in the early morning of Monday by army, police and CRPF personnel. The joint operation team fired warning shots towards the suspected spot as the search operation intensified. In return, the militants opened fire, which led to the gunfight. After the Pulwama attack, the CRPF has decided to increase the standard operating procedures (SOP) that is set to secure its convoys. The CRPF Director General RR Bhatnagar said that they have decided to add new features to the convoy movement to and from Kashmir.

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