J&K Police Bust Militant Hideout, Recover Arms & Ammo Cache Hidden in Doda Forests

Jammu: In a significant intelligence-based operation, the Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police recovered a Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), two magazines and 22 live rounds concealed in the dense Bhalara forest area of Thathri in Doda district on Sunday.

The operation, supervised by Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Doda Sandeep Mehta, was launched on specific inputs about the presence of hidden arms in the upper reaches under the Police Station Thathri jurisdiction.

Police described the seizure as a major success in tightening the security grid in the hilly district and preventing the weapons from reaching anti-national elements. “The recovery has foiled possible attempts to revive militancy in the region,” a police statement said, adding that a detailed probe is underway to trace the origin of the weapon and identify those responsible for stashing it.

Doda and neighbouring districts have witnessed a surge in cordon-and-search operations in recent months as security forces intensify efforts to neutralise dormant militant modules ahead of winter.

This comes weeks after police and security agencies conducted large-scale raids across south Kashmir’s Shopian district targeting properties and associates linked to the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Jammu and Kashmir, which remains proscribed under UAPA since 2019 and saw its ban extended for five more years in February 2024.

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