Army recovers cache of arms in Kishtwar district of Jammu

JAMMU: Army and police today recovered a cache of arms from higher reaches of Kishtwar district in Jammu region from where militants are believed to have given a slip and fled the spot.

Army Public Relation Officer Lt Col Manish Mehta claimed that troops and police in a joint operation recovered Pika Machine Gun with 100 belted ammunition, two .303 rifles, two 12 bore guns, one UBGL with 16 grenades, 16 rounds of .303 ammunition and one a radio set.

However, 12 bore gun or .303 rifles are generally not used by militants and it seems that it has been snatched from some of the Village Defence Committee members of the region or from police parties operating in the region.

The spokesman could not, however, give a clear picture whether the militants had fled the scene or it was a case of ammunition being dumped by terrorists for use at a later stage. "I would not like to comment on this," he said.

The ammunition dump was recovered from a hideout near Kuchhal village in Kishtwar district.