On November 19, four terrorists were killed and two policemen injured in a gunfight at Ban Toll Plaza near Nagrota on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 20 said the security forces had defeated a “nefarious plot to target grassroots level democratic exercises in Jammu and Kashmir” by killing “four terrorists” belonging to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad.
The four terrorists, who recently infiltrated from Pakistan, were killed and two policemen injured in a gunfight at the Ban Toll Plaza near Nagrota on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway on November 19. The four had huge amount of ammunition and explosive materials on them.
News Analysis | With ‘terror dossier’ against India, Pakistan tries to kill two birds with one shot
The Prime Minister held a detailed review of the Nagrota encounter on November 20.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla and top intelligence officials were present in the meeting.
Ministry of External Affairs officials said the government was likely to summon Pakistan High Commission officials to protest continued acts of terrorism against India being planned on its soil.
Also read | Terrorism, biggest problem confronting the world: PM Modi at BRICS
‘Something big planned’
A senior government official said the Pakistan-based terrorists were “planning something big on the anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks” on November 26.
In a tweet after the meeting, Mr. Modi said, “Neutralising of 4 terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and the presence of large cache of weapons and explosives with them indicate that their efforts to wreak major havoc and destruction have once again been thwarted.”
In another tweet, he said, “Our security forces have once again displayed utmost bravery and professionalism. Thanks to their alertness, they have defeated a nefarious plot to target grassroots level democratic exercises in Jammu and Kashmir”.
Also read | Pakistan Minister admits Islamabad’s role in Pulwama terror attack
A senior government official said that other than the huge quantity of arms and ammunition, a digital mobile radio manufactured by a Pakistani company – Micro electronics, has also been recovered from the four killed terrorists. “The messages exchanged on the device shows that the intruders were continuously in touch with their handlers in Pakistan. One of the messages on the device said- Kaha phnche kia sorate hal hai koi mushkil to nahi? [where have you reached? Hope you are not in any trouble?]” said the official. Shoes and medicines manufactured in Pakistan have also been recovered. A smartphone- Q mobile that is made in Pakistan, a wireless set and a GPS device were found on them.
“The four terrorists crossed over from International Border in Jammu and reached a pre-designated spot on the national highway south of Samba district. They were on their way to Kashmir Valley when the truck was intercepted at the toll plaza,” said the official.
Also read | JuD chief Hafiz Saeed gets 10 years in jail for terror funding
“The plan was to disrupt the DDC [District Development Council] elections. They had 11 AK-47 rifles and over 7 kgs of RDX on them. The plan was to do something spectacular,” said the official, adding that the killed terrorists have not been identified yet.
DDC polls are to be held in the UT of J&K next week.
Since August 2019, over 200 terrorists have been killed, including 30 foreigners, in various operations by security forces.