NEW DELHI: Security forces launched a search operation in Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Sunday after terrorists allegedly took food from a house in a village before fleeing into a nearby forest, reported news agency PTI.According to officials, the joint operation involving police and paramilitary forces is underway in Chore Motu village and adjoining forest areas in the Majalta region. The location is around five kilometres west of the site of an earlier encounter in which a policeman was killed.Officials said an intelligence input was received late on Saturday evening that two unidentified terrorists had visited the house of a local resident, Mangtu Ram, in Chore Motu village at around 6.30 pm and taken food. Soon after receiving the information, police and paramilitary personnel were rushed to the area. However, the terrorists had already escaped by the time security forces reached the spot, officials said.Following this, the forest belt surrounding the village was cordoned off. A large-scale combing operation was launched from multiple directions early on Sunday morning to trace and neutralise the terrorists, officials added. The operation comes days after a deadly encounter in the same region. On December 15, a policeman was killed during a gunfight with terrorists at Soan village in the Majalta area, after security forces received information about the movement of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the area, reported PTI. In that incident, the terrorists managed to flee, taking advantage of thick foliage and darkness.
