Jammu: A significant operation across four districts in the Jammu division has led to the arrest of 10 overground workers (OGWs) linked to various terrorist groups, according to Jammu and Kashmir police on Thursday.
Authorities reported that the crackdown targeted 17 locations in the Malhar, Bani, and Billawar areas, as well as Kana Chak, Haria Chak, Sorak pain, and Chak Wajir in Kathua District.
“This well-coordinated operation was executed in connection with three FIRs related to terror incidents filed at the Malhar, Billawar, and Bani police stations, resulting in the identification and arrest of 10 OGWs and suspected terrorists. Several electronic devices were also confiscated during the searches,” officials stated.
In previous anti-terror operations, three foreign terrorists from the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) group were killed in encounters with security forces in the higher reaches of Kathua district and nearby Basantgarh in Udhampur district.
Jammu division police have intensified their efforts against terror networks associated with JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), conducting over 56 raids in various districts, including Rajouri, Poonch, Udhampur, and Reasi. This extensive operation has led to the arrest of numerous OGWs and terror suspects, alongside the recovery of incriminating materials such as electronic devices, documents, unaccounted cash, weapons, and ammunition.
Following a series of terrorist attacks, two high-level security meetings chaired by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha have directed security forces to aggressively dismantle the terror ecosystem, which encompasses terrorists, OGWs, sympathizers, and harborers.
These orders were issued in response to three recent attacks: on October 20, terrorists killed seven workers of an infrastructure company in Gagangir, Ganderbal district; on October 24, three soldiers and two civilian porters were killed in an attack in Botapathri, Gulmarg; and on November 2, a woman was killed and nine others injured in a grenade attack by terrorists at a Sunday market in Srinagar.