Four Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists being tracked for a year are trapped in a forested area in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district with security forces attempting to neutralise them in rain and fog, officials said on Thursday.

The encounter broke out when a joint search party of the army and police launched a search operation, based on a specific intelligence, in remote Bihali area of Basantgarh in the district this morning. Reinforcements have been rushed in and a massive search operation is going on despite bad weather.

“Contact was established with the terrorists around 8.30 am... they are believed to be four in number and we have been tracking (this group) for the last one year,” Inspector General of Police, Jammu range, Bhim Sen Tuti told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.

He said a search operation was going on despite foggy conditions and the real picture would emerge once the weather improves.

Officials added that the trapped terrorists are members of the Pakistan-based JeM and were found hiding near Karoor nallah by the joint search party led by the army’s para commandos.

Earlier in the morning, Jammu-based White Knight Corps of Army said in a post on X, “Based on specific intelligence, a joint operation was launched by Indian Army and J&K Police in the Bihali area of Basantgarh. Contact has been established with terrorists. The operation is currently in progress.” The operation, codenamed Operation Bihali, comes a week ahead of the start of the annual Amarnath yatra in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Besides, security forces conducted a search operation in Purmandal area of Samba district late Wednesday night following reports of suspicious activity. However, the operation concluded peacefully after nothing was found on the ground, officials said.

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