Srinagar, August 7: Four Indian Army personnel, including a major-rank officer, were martyred today in an encounter in Gurez sector of Jammu and Kashmir. Security forces also gunned down four terrorists in the gunfight. The encounter took place at Govind Nallah in the Gurez sector of Bandipore district after the Indian Army noticed a suspicious movement in Gurez area close to Line of Control (LoC) during the night.

The army personnel who lost their lives have been identified as :

  1. Major Kaustubh Prakash Kumar Rane

  2. Rifleman Mandeep Singh Rawat

  3. Rifleman Hameer Singh

  4. Gunner Vikram Jeet Singh.

As per initial reports, eight terrorists were trying to infiltrate into the Indian territory under the cover fire provided by the Pakistani Army, out of which, four were killed and rest returned to Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. On August 4, five terrorists were killed in Shopian district in a joint operation was carried out by the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The forces carried out the operation after receiving information about the presence of terrorists in the area.

Meanwhile, on August 3, the security forces gunned down two terrorists at Drusu village in Sopore district. The Indian army jawan Sawar Vijay Kumar also martyred in the encounter. In the last seven days, 13 terrorists were neutralised by the security forces in the Kashmir Valley. In 2018, around 120 terrorists have been killed by the security forces in the Kashmir Valley, while more than 50 security personnel lost their lives.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 07, 2018 05:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).