Shopian: A day after laying cordon around several Shopian villages, government forces on Tuesday carried out cordon and search operation (CASO) in two more villages in the south Kashmir district. However, both the military operations were called off with no trace of militants found in either of the villages.

Locals from Pahnoo village said that a joint team of government forces including 44 Rashtriya Rifles of army, 14th battalion of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and Jammu and Kashmir Police arrived in the village at around 11 am and started door-to-door searches in Bonpora locality of the village.

They said that dozens of residential houses and other structures were searched. The forces were withdrawn from the village at about 4 pm after no trace of militants was found, they said.

Another similar operation was carried out by a joint team of government forces including 53 Rashtriya Rifles of army, 178th battalion of CRPF, and Jammu and Kashmir Police at Wachi village, some 23 kilometers from district headquarters Shopian.

Locals said that dozens of houses were searched during the military operation but it, too, was called off in the afternoon.

A police source said that both the operations were carried out based on intelligence inputs about the presence of militants in the village areas.

Raashid Hassan