Army captain from K'taka among 4 killed in J&K

Srinagar/Mangaluru: Four army personnel, including two officers, were killed in an ongoing encounter with terrorists in the border district of Rajouri in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

Sources told DH that Captain M V Pranjal of 63 Rhastriya Rifles was among the four killed. He is the son of former director of Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), M Venkatesh. Pranjal was an alumnus of Delhi Public School, MRPL. 

A Jammu-based defence spokesman said search operations were launched in Gulabgarh forest of Kalakote area on November 19 following “specific intelligence” about the presence of terrorists. Contact with the hiding militants was established on November 22. "The terrorists have been injured and surrounded and operations are in progress amidst acts of valour and sacrifice by our bravehearts," he said.

Sources said the militants fired upon the search party, resulting in grievous injuries to four army personnel, including two captains, who later died in a hospital. The army didn’t confirm the number of casualties of the soldiers.

The firing is still on, and more reinforcements, including the army’s elite PARA force, have been sent to the area.