Army soldier dies after injuries in Udhampur gunfight amid ongoing terror operations

Srinagar: An armyman, critically injured in a gunfight, succumbed to his injuries during an ongoing operation in the higher reaches of Udhampur district, Jammu and Kashmir, on Saturday.

The soldier was identified as Lance Dafadar Baldev Chand, who was wounded during an encounter in the Kanji area of Udhampur late Friday evening. He later died in hospital.

The White Knight Corps said Chand was injured when terrorists opened fire on a joint search party of the Army and the J&K Police's Special Operations Group at the Seoj Dhar forest, along the Dudu-Basantgarh area of Udhampur and the Bhaderwah region of Doda district.


Officials said the cordon was maintained through the night, with the search operation resuming on Saturday morning and continuing through the day. Two to three infiltrators are believed to be hiding in the dense forest.

Reinforcements, including drones and sniffer dogs, have been deployed from both Udhampur and Doda to intensify the operation, which was still underway when last reports came in.

Security officials noted that despite the February 2021 ceasefire, several infiltrators have managed to cross the Line of Control and the International Border and remain active in Jammu and parts of Kashmir. They warned that foreign militants continue to pose "a major challenge" to the security grid in the coming months.