The Jammu and Kashmir Police have detained six members of a family, including four women, for allegedly helping militants involved in last week’s Kathua encounter. In this encounter, four policemen lost their lives.

Family accused of helping militants escape

Sources say the six people arrested are family members of a man who is already in jail. He was arrested before because he was accused of helping militants. These militants had attacked an army convoy in Kathua’s Badnota village last year, killing five soldiers.

Since March 23, security forces have been looking for the militants. It is believed that they crossed the international border into Saniyal village in the Hiranagar area. The arrested family members are accused of helping these militants escape to the forests near Jakhole village.

Besides this family, the police had also taken six other people for questioning earlier.

Militants’ movement and security forces’ response

On March 23, after crossing the border, the militants had a short fight with security forces before escaping from Saniyal. Four days later, a team of police and security forces found them again in the forests near Jakhole village. After a long operation, they killed two militants, but some others are believed to have escaped into the thick forests.

Sadly, four policemen lost their lives in this operation.

By looking at the 30-km route the militants travelled from Saniyal to Jakhole, sources believe they were trying to reach the Kailash tri-junction, which connects three areas: Udhampur, Doda, and Kathua.

On Sunday evening, between 7:30 and 8:00 pm, the militants reached Rajalu village, which is about three kilometres from Jakhole. They knocked on a local resident's door and demanded food at gunpoint. One person in the house was able to escape and tell the security forces. However, by the time the security forces arrived, the militants had already left.

After this, the security forces started searching more areas, including the nearby Samba district and Billawar Heights.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh visited the families of two policemen, Jaswant Singh and Balwinder Singh, who were killed in the encounter. He announced financial support of Rs 70 lakh for each family and said that the next of kin would get government jobs. He also promised to build a memorial gate in their honour using his MP fund.

You might also be interested in: Five terrorists killed in encounter in Kulgam, Jammu & Kashmir