Poonch terror attack: Over 40 detained for questioning; search operation enters fourth day

Atleast 40 people, including two couples, have been detained by the police and other agencies for questioning as part of its probe to track the militants involved in Thursday’s deadly attack on an army vehicle in border Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Five Army soldiers were killed and a sixth was seriously injured when their vehicle caught fire during a terror attack on an army vehicle moving from Bhimber Gali to Sangiot, around 90 kilometers away from the district headquarters of Poonch.

On Sunday police detained two couples from Degwar, Poonch on the suspicion of providing logistic support to the militants in carrying out the attack. They have been identified as Mohammad Iqbal and his wife Mudifa, and Salam Din and his wife Rahida.

“They are being questioned besides over three dozen other suspects in connection with the attack. So far there has been no breakthrough and some of the suspects have already been released,” sources told DH.

Read | Poonch attack: Terrorists used steel bullets, stole soldiers' weapons

Experts from various agencies, including the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited the site of the attack in the past three days to probe the incident, they said.

Additional troops have been inducted to further intensify the cordon-and-search operation (CASO) in Bhata Dhurian-Tota Gali and neighbouring areas. As the operation entered its fourth day on Monday with the engagement of multiple security agencies, the entire belt was put under cordon, officials said.

During the search operation, troops came across a few natural cave hideouts in the area, which could possibly have been used by the terrorists in the past, they said.

Though the area where Thursday’s attack took place is considered terrorism-free for long, the Bhatta Durrian forest area remains a notorious infiltration route for militants attempting to sneak into India by crossing the Line of Control (LoC) due to its topography, dense forest cover and natural caves.

In October 2021, nine soldiers fell to the bullets in two major gunfights with militants within four days in the forest area during a search operation that continued for over three weeks.