Jammu, July 17 (IANS) One person was killed, and three Special Operations Group (SOG) personnel of Jammu and Kashmir Police were injured in firing after the man reportedly tried to snatch a service rifle in Doda district, officials said on Friday.

A religious preacher has been detained in connection with the incident, which occurred late Thursday night, the police officials said.

The detained person’s link to the incident was not immediately clear. An SOG team laid an ambush on Thursday along the Jaie-Gandoh road, about 35 km from Bhaderwah town, following reports of suspicious movement in the high-altitude area, a senior officer said.

Around 11.30 p.m., the SOG team intercepted a youth who allegedly attacked the personnel and attempted to snatch a service rifle.

“During the scuffle, an SOG jawan opened fire. The youth sustained bullet injuries, while three police personnel were injured in the incident,” the officer said.

All four of them were taken to the Sub-District Hospital, Bhaderwah, from where they were referred to the Government Medical College, Doda, for specialised treatment. The youth, Aarif Hussain (30) of Cheeka village, succumbed to his injuries, the officials said.

A religious preacher has been detained, they said. As a precautionary measure, additional deployments of the Central Reserve Police Force and police have been made in Bhaderwah town.

The Army has launched a search operation in the Jaie area, the officials said.

Militancy in Doda emerged in the early 1990s as the first major theatre of armed violence outside the Kashmir Valley. Its rugged, forested terrain provided a strategic corridor for cross-border infiltration from Pakistan, leading to a protracted period of violence and significant civilian casualties.

The erstwhile Doda district, which also encompassed present-day Kishtwar and Ramban, was utilised by militant groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba to establish guerrilla bases. The region witnessed horrific sectarian violence, including the 1996 Barshala massacre, the 2001 Kishtwar massacres, and the 2006 Doda massacre where 57 Hindu civilians were killed.

To counter this, the government established Village Defence Committees (VDCs) to arm local villagers, resulting in a decline in terrorist attacks on unarmed civilians.

Following aggressive counter-insurgency operations by the Indian Army, Rashtriya Rifles, and paramilitary forces, active militancy in the Doda district was largely suppressed by the late 2000s, bringing a period of relative peace and normalcy to the region.

In the early 2020s, and particularly peaking around mid-2024, the wider Jammu region has experienced a significant revival of militant activity. The Doda region itself has witnessed renewed terrorist strikes and high-altitude encounters, including a major ambush in July 2024 that resulted in the deaths of four Army soldiers.

–IANS

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