Fire service vehicles, reinforcements brought; second night of ‘thorough’ searches underway

Shopian: A military operation launched at Kapran village, some 12 kilometers from district headquarters Shopian, entered its second night on Tuesday, with no trace of militants found so far.
This is the 7th such operation in Kapran village in the past 22 days. Locals said that searches were being carried out in the village since Monday midnight. They said that besides thorough and intensive searches, reinforcements have also been called in by the government forces.
A villager said that besides the contingent of government forces’ vehicles, fire services vehicles have also been brought, which according to him points to a major operation based on intelligence inputs.
A police source said that there were credible inputs about the presence of militants in the village. He said that the operation may continue till Wednesday morning.
The operation was started amid moderate snowfall in the district. Kapran comprises about 400 households, but the major search operation is being carried out in Lone Mohalla locality.
The cordon and search operation (CASO) is being conducted by a joint team of government forces including 34 Rashtriya Rifles of the army, 14th Battalion of central reserve police force (CRPF), and Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Three days ago, on the 26th of this month, two militants were killed in a 20-hour-long operation in Kenigam village of Shopian district.

Raashid Hassan