Three terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district this morning, sources said. The gunfight began in the Chak Taper Kreeri in the Pattan area of the north Kashmir district late Friday after a joint operation was launched by the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir police based on specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists.

The operation is going on.

Joint operation with @JmuKmrPolice in progress at #Baramulla. https://t.co/YZY7MLjYeo pic.twitter.com/GkvBlwRJ2k

— NORTHERN COMMAND – INDIAN ARMY (@NorthernComd_IA) September 14, 2024

In a separate encounter, troops of the Army’s Rising Star Corps unit shot dead two terrorists in Kathua on Friday.

“Large war-like stores were recovered after the operations concluded,” they said in a statement on X.

#𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐀𝐫𝐦𝐲

𝐎𝐏 𝐊𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐀𝐑𝐀
In the Joint operation launched on 11 Sep by 𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬 & 𝐉&𝐊 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞, Two Terrorists Neutralised & Large War Like Stores Recovered. 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬… pic.twitter.com/SE4bfRVmNL

— Rising Star Corps_IA (@RisingStarCorps) September 13, 2024

Earlier Friday, two Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed in action and an equal number injured in an encounter with terrorists in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district.

The gunfight broke out when a joint security party of the Army and police, acting on a tip-off, launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Naidgham area in the Chhatroo belt connecting Kishtwar with south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

#GeneralUpendraDwivedi #COAS and All Ranks of #IndianArmy salute the supreme sacrifice of the #Bravehearts Nb Sub Vipan Kumar and Sep Arvind Singh, who laid down their lives in the line of duty in J&K and express deepest condolences to the bereaved families. https://t.co/4eGMGpTxDk

— ADG PI – INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) September 14, 2024

Four Army personnel were injured in the gunbattle and two of them — Naib Subedar Vipan Kumar, a JCO, and Sepoy Arvind Singh — later died, the officials said, adding that one of the soldiers died of splinter injuries caused by a grenade explosion and another of a bullet injury in the head.

PM Modi’s Jammu And Kashmir Visit

These encounters happened ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s mega poll rally in Jammu and Kashmir’s Doda district.

Multi-tier security has been deployed across the twin districts of Doda and Kishtwar, particularly around the venue, to ensure a peaceful and smooth conduct of the election rally.

This will be the first visit by a prime minister to Doda in the last 42 years.

Voting in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections will be held in three phases – September 18, September 25, and October 1. The counting of votes will take place on October 8.

This is the first Assembly election in J&K in 10 years, and the first since the abrogation of Article 370 – which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir – and Article 35A – which empowered Jammu and Kashmir’s legislature to decide who the erstwhile state’s permanent residents were.

Amid the deadlock between protesting doctors and the West Bengal government, senior Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh has claimed that “opposition forces” are plotting an attack on the agitators to defame the Mamata Banerjee government and the ruling party in the state. Mr Ghosh cited an audio clip of a conversation as proof of the conspiracy. 

The doctors have been protesting since a trainee doctor was raped and murdered at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. 

“The conversation is between a member of the youth wing of the Left and one from an ultra-Left organisation. There is a deep conspiracy against the government. They were talking about a plot. They will attack the ‘dharna’ (sit-in) of doctors and then will blame the ruling party and the state government that after yesterday’s deadlock, the ruling party is attacking the doctors… this is the main plot,” Mr Ghosh said on Friday.

He also made the same claim in a post on X and said the police should stop the entry of outsiders near the protest site at Swasthya Bhavan, the headquarters of the health department in West Bengal, in Kolkata’s Salt Lake, where the doctors began a sit-in on Tuesday. 

The police have registered a case on their own and also arrested one person. 

CPI(M) spokesperson Fuad Halim said the police should investigate how Mr Ghosh got the clip. 

“On August 14, when a peaceful protest was on, a big group of goons entered RG Kar hospital and tried to compromise the scene of crime. The administration is totally silent on the 20-30 people who have been arrested – who they were, what are their political affiliations, why they went on a rampage. Devious forces are working here in West Bengal. The Trinamool Congress is involved in a heinous threat culture,” Mr Halim said. 

There have been moves for a discussion between the state government and the protesting doctors since Tuesday, which have been getting stalled. On Wednesday, the doctors had made four key demands for the discussion to take place: they should be allowed to send a delegation of at least 30, the discussion should be held in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, it should be centred around their five-point demands, and the meeting should be live telecast.

Three of the four demands had been met and the doctors had reached the state secretariat on Thursday for a meeting but it did not take place because the government did not agree to a ‘live telecast’.

‘Against Protocol’

Explaining the reasoning after Thursday’s meeting did not happen, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who said she had been waiting for the doctors for over two hours, stated that the matter was in court and live streaming the meeting would be against protocol.

Ms Banerjee also apologised to the people of West Bengal and said she was willing to step down. 

“In the interest of the people, I am ready to step down. I do not want the post of the Chief Minister. I want justice for Tilottama (the name given to the trainee doctor who was raped and murdered). And I want common people to get medical treatment,” the chief minister said, adding that people do not know that there is a “political colour” to the protest. 

“I know many in the delegation were interested in talks. But two of three people were giving instructions from outside. We have seen all that. We could see that because it was being recorded by the press, which were standing right behind… They were giving instructions – ‘Do not negotiate, do not go to the meeting’,” she said. 

The five-point demands of the doctors include holding all individuals responsible for the rape and murder – as well as any destruction of evidence – accountable and punishing them and taking strict disciplinary action against former RG Kar Medical College and Hospital Principal Sandip Ghosh. They have also pushed for the resignation of Kolkata Police Commissioner Vineet Goyal and Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam, among others; ensuring adequate security measures for healthcare workers; and eliminating a ‘threat culture’ prevailing in government healthcare institutions. 

The doctors have also written to the President and the Prime Minister, requesting them to intervene and end the impasse.