Abducted soldier’s body recovered in Kokernag

Srinagar, Oct 9: The bullet-ridden body of a Territorial Army (TA) soldier abducted by militants from the Kokernag forests in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday afternoon was recovered early Wednesday morning during a joint search operation by the security forces.

The soldier was identified as 26-year-old Hilal Ahmad Bhat of Anantnag.

He had gone missing a day earlier while on reconnaissance.

Officials said that the soldier, along with a colleague from the 162 Battalion of the Territorial Army, was conducting reconnaissance in the Kazwan forest area on Tuesday when they were ambushed by a group of militants.

The Army’s 15 Corps had earlier confirmed the launch of a joint counter-operation in collaboration with the J&K Police and other agencies, based on intelligence inputs about the militant movement in the area.

“A massive search operation is under progress. On Tuesday, a joint operation was launched by the Indian Army and the J&K Police in the Kazwan forest after a soldier of the Territorial Army was reported missing,” 15 Corps said in a post on microblogging site X.

They said that two TA personnel were sent on a mission to track down militants believed to be hiding in the forest.

“The soldiers were tasked with pinning down the location where terrorists were spotted. Unfortunately, they encountered three to four terrorists, some of whom are believed to be foreign nationals,” said a senior Police officer involved in the operation.

One of the two soldiers managed to escape after being shot in the shoulder during the encounter.

“The soldier, despite his injuries, ran to safety and was later evacuated to Army's 439 Field Hospital for treatment,” the officer said.

However, his colleague was abducted by the militants.

After an intense search operation that lasted through the night, the body of the abducted soldier was found in the dense Kokernag forests on Wednesday morning.

Police said that the recovery indicated that the soldier had been shot by the militants.

In August this year, two soldiers were killed in action during a fierce gunfight with militants in the Kokernag area of Anantnag.

A soldier and two civilians were injured.

Militants had targeted the Army patrol while they were carrying out an anti-terror operation in the forest in the Kokernag subdivision.

Today’s incident is the third major incident in Kokernag in over a year.

In September 2023, a Commanding Officer, a Major, and a Deputy Superintendent of Police were among the personnel killed during a gunfight with militants in Kokernag forests.