StatesJammu and Kashmir
Security forces bust cave hideout in Rajouri forest, recover nine under-barrel grenades
A joint team acting on specific inputs found the cache in the Panch Gabbar forest of Koteranka tehsil on Monday, and the search of the area was continuing into the evening.
Key points
- A joint team found nine UBGL grenades hidden in a cave in Rajouri's Panch Gabbar forest.
- An AK-47 magazine and 18 rounds were also recovered.
- The search, launched on specific inputs, was still on late on Monday.
Security forces busted a militant hideout in a forest cave in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district on Monday and recovered nine under-barrel grenade launcher (UBGL) grenades along with rifle ammunition, officials said.
A joint team of security forces moved into the Panch Gabbar forest area of Koteranka tehsil, which falls under the Kandi police station, after receiving what officials described as specific inputs. The cache was concealed inside a cave.
Besides the grenades, which are fired from a launcher fitted under an assault rifle, the team recovered an AK-47 magazine and 18 rounds of AK ammunition. Officials said the search of the surrounding forest was still under way on Monday evening.
Under-barrel grenades can be lobbed several hundred metres, and caches like this one are treated as a sign that a group either planned an attack or used the area as a supply point.
The forests of Rajouri and neighbouring Poonch, on the southern slopes of the Pir Panjal range, have for years been used by militants as hiding places and transit routes, and the thick cover and caves make them hard to comb. Security forces run regular search operations in the area, particularly in the months before winter snow closes the higher reaches.
Officials did not say who was believed to have used the hideout or how long the weapons had been stored there. No arrests were reported.