- 28 minutes ago
Two Special Police Officers were found dead in Dachhan forest, Jammu and Kashmir. Their weapons were missing, and a joint search operation is ongoing.
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00:00Mughan Kashmir were bodies of two cops who were missing yesterday.
00:04Their bodies have now been found in Kishtawar Forest.
00:07Bodies of the missing special police officers has now been found.
00:10That's the latest update. They were missing since yesterday.
00:13And now their bodies have been recovered from a forest in Kishtawar.
00:17Both special police officers were fired at multiple times.
00:20This is the latest update.
00:22And their bodies have been found in Dachshan Forest area, which is in Kishtawar.
00:26And these two cops had went missing after firing in the forest area.
00:32And what is also important to note that their service weapons of these police officers is also missing.
00:40So these two cops went missing at around 4.30 p.m. yesterday on the very day
00:44when we also saw an attack on a CRPF check post in Kulgaam.
00:48Now this is what is being reported from Kishtawar, where in a forest,
00:52from a forest there, bodies have been recovered.
00:54The two cops that had went missing yesterday at around 4.30 p.m.
00:58Their bodies have been found two kilometers away from the attack site.
01:02Hunt is now on for the terrorists who had abducted and killed these cops.
01:06And their service weapons are also now missing.
01:11So bodies of both the missing special police officers have been recovered by search parties in the Dachshan Forest area.
01:17This is in Kishtawar and a massive search operation has now been launched to track down the terrorists involved
01:23in this abduction and killing of these two special police officers.
01:28My colleague Amir Farid is now joining us with more details on this.
01:31Amir, what more details are we gathering now that the bodies of the two missing special police officers have been
01:37recovered?
01:37How did the attack take place and where exactly were the bodies recovered from?
01:47Well, Anjali, we broke this story late last night when we got this input that two special police officers,
01:53they were part of the special operations group of the Jamund Kashmir police.
01:56Now this group specifically deals with anti-terror operations.
02:00Now, we also reported on the fact that last some months, in fact, last one year,
02:06the Jamund Kashmir police in synergy with other belt forces have decided to make temporary operating bases.
02:15Now this is to plug the gaps in the vast forest area.
02:19This is a huge inhospitable terrain we're talking of.
02:22And these TOBs were made joint efforts of army police CRP.
02:27And it was one such TOB in the Dachshan upper reaches that these two special police officers,
02:33part of the SOG Dachshan, they were traveling, in fact, going upwards,
02:38climbing or tracking to this particular post when at around 2.30 yesterday afternoon they went missing.
02:45Their mobiles then also went switched off.
02:48And post that a massive search rescue operation was launched by joint forces,
02:52especially by the Jamund Kashmir police.
02:54Now the latest is that, as was feared, their bodies have now been recovered
02:59almost two kilometers away from the location they went missing.
03:03Through the night, there was a massive intense search operation in the jungle terrain.
03:07And finally, their bodies have been located.
03:10They are bullet riddled, means they have multiple gunshot wounds on their body.
03:14So quite clearly, it seems to be a terror crime where the terrorists who, in fact,
03:19probably had a prior input or they had done their raki, they could have followed their tracks.
03:24And as they found them moving towards this particular location,
03:28they abducted them and then killed them after abduction.
03:32Now we've also been told by sources that both of their service weapons are missing.
03:36And right now, massive search effort is underway.
03:41More troops of the army police CRPF have been dispatched,
03:44and they're trying to scan the jungle area.
03:47Quite clearly, it is a case where their movements were being tracked
03:52because they were abducted at a location where, in fact, there was no police or CRPF around.
03:59The post was pretty far away from where they were.
04:03And they're going to relieve the army unit who was already at the DOB when they were abducted.
04:08So, as the right-wing said, this is happening hours after the Kulgaam attack.
04:13Now, whether there is a connection in the form of an effort to do a series of attacks to show
04:18their presence,
04:18that's the other question.
04:19But as I said, right now, the effort is to track down these assailants
04:23and for that, massive scanning of the forest area underway by joint forces.
04:28Anjali?
04:29All right. May you do stay with us.
04:30So, Special Police Officers Bobby Chand and Rashpal Kumar have been killed.
04:34Their bodies have also been recovered.
04:36The bodies have been recovered two kilometers away from where they had gone missing yesterday
04:41at around 4.30 p.m.
04:43And a manhunter is now launched to nab the accused, the terrorists,
04:49who have, in fact, killed, who, in fact, abducted first these special cops and then killed them.
04:55In fact, Sandeep Unithan is also now joining us with more details and context.
05:00Sandeep, first the Kulgaam CRPF checkpost attack.
05:04And now, just hours after that, we are learning that how the two cops that had gone missing yesterday,
05:09they have also been killed in the forest area in Kishtawar.
05:14Do you think it's just a coincidence or do you think this is a part of a larger plan?
05:20Well, Anjali, it's no coincidence.
05:22It is definitely part of a larger plan.
05:24And the plan is to basically show that Jammu and Kashmir is still disturbed.
05:29But, you know, bear in mind that 2026 has been one of the lowest incidents of fatalities that we've had
05:36in more than three decades.
05:39Now, between January and October 2026, we've just had 24 fatalities and terror-related incidents.
05:47This is 19 terrorists who have killed two security personnel, two civilians,
05:51and, of course, one individual of unknown identity.
05:54More persons have died in natural disasters in Jammu and Kashmir this year.
05:59That's 31 people have died because of natural disasters, cloudbursts and flash floods, etc.,
06:05than from terrorism.
06:06Now, this is a very, very big change of tide.
06:10And this is clearly something that has rattled the Pakistan deep state.
06:14They would like to show Jammu and Kashmir as being disturbed and terrorists, you know, running riot,
06:20particularly at a time when Pakistan itself is riven by internal disturbances in Balochistan,
06:26Ghaibar Pakhtunkwa, and particularly Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
06:30So they would like to portray Jammu and Kashmir as unstable and unsafe.
06:36And that is one of the reasons that in the last 24 hours you've had these two incidents in Kulgam
06:42and Kishtwar,
06:43more than 150 kilometers apart.
06:45And the pattern suggests that these appear to be local terrorists who are not engaging with the security forces.
06:52They're basically doing hit-and-run, you know, attacks like the CRPF thing.
06:57A bike-borne terrorist came and fired at the CRPF and fled.
07:00This appears to be another incident of them targeting special police officers.
07:06Now, SPOs have been around fighting terrorism for more than three decades.
07:10And they're not as well-equipped or as well-trained as the regular security forces.
07:16So the terrorists seem to have taken advantage of that, kidnapped them possibly,
07:20and, you know, executed them in brutal fashion and, you know, dumped their bodies in a forest.
07:26So this clearly suggests a larger pattern, you know, as you were indicating,
07:29of showing Jammu and Kashmir as being unstable and, you know, ridden with terrorist attacks in a year
07:36when the overall fatality rates have been one of the lowest in more than three decades.
07:42Anjali?
07:43Absolutely.
07:44And Sandeep, there's one more aspect that the service weapons of these special police officers is also missing.
07:50Do you think that could also have wider implication as far as security is concerned?
07:54Yes, certainly.
07:55Now, what has happened this year is that because of the disruption in terrorism,
08:00the cross-border incidents are down.
08:03The terrorists who are in the valley and in and around Jammu and Kashmir
08:08have difficulty in accessing arms and ammunition.
08:11And therefore, you know, every weapon that they can snatch and seize from security personnel
08:17becomes one more weapon that they can use against them.
08:19And in this case, they have recovered a .303 rifle and, you know, an INSAS rifle from the two SPOs.
08:26These two weapons are missing.
08:28And these are the kind of weapons that the terrorists would use in areas that they are hiding in,
08:33particularly in forests, in jungles, in the high-altitude regions where they believe to be hiding,
08:39because these are, you know, infantry weapons.
08:42They're pretty old, but they're very effective at long ranges,
08:46where typically you would be, you know, engaging security personnel.
08:50A .303 rifle is pretty much useless in close combat.
08:54But when you're hiding in, you know, a high-altitude area or in a field or in a forested area,
08:59then it becomes, you know, effectively it's like a sniper weapon.
09:02It's devastating at long ranges.
09:04So, these are, you know, issues that the security forces must deal with, you know,
09:09in the days and weeks ahead as they hunt for these two or more terrorists who have carried out these
09:15attacks.
09:16All right, Sandeep, do stay with us.
09:19My colleague Meer Farid also continues to stay with us.
09:22Meer, help us understand how far are these forests in Kishtawar,
09:26the Dutchan forests in Kishtawar from Kulgaam?
09:29And could the same terrorists be behind this attack as well,
09:32the ones who had fired at the check post in Kulgaam?
09:37Well, that is not a possibility, Anjali, because it's pretty far.
09:43Kulgaam is in Kashmir.
09:45Yes, it is connected through the Peer Panjal.
09:48But to move to that side, it will take a long time.
09:52So, obviously, there seems to be a different set of terrorists who are involved in this particular case.
09:57But, yes, as multiple intel reports suggest, that there are inputs about non-local FTs, as they're called.
10:07They're operational in the higher reaches of Kishtawar, Doda, and they keep on changing their positions.
10:14Now, this is a very difficult, tough terrain we're talking of.
10:17These are dense jungles, rugged terrain.
10:20And that's why just to plug these gaps, not to give these terrorists a free run inside the forest area,
10:26these temporary operating bases, this idea had come up.
10:30And then you had the police and other forces coming in, pooling their resources and making these TOBs,
10:36where you would have rotations, periodic rotation of police taking over for some time,
10:43then the army, CRPF, etc.
10:45So, it was that rotation that had to happen.
10:48These SPOs were going there to relieve the army jawans.
10:51And it is here that they were intercepted, abducted.
10:55Now, terror angle, obviously, is a very strong possibility here.
11:00The security forces, obviously, will look at other aspects as well.
11:03But the way it has happened, the abduction and the bullet-ridden bodies that have been found,
11:08clearly hints at terror angle and the fact that probably they were tracked.
11:13Now, this is, in jungles, it is very difficult to carry out operations.
11:19You know, there are various handicaps that the security forces face.
11:22The low visibility, ample opportunity for terrorists to hide, change their locations.
11:28And then the fact that in most of, many of these locations, communication is also a massive issue.
11:33Do not have communication.
11:34Then the triangulation, which obviously is something that the security forces use as far as to intercept signals.
11:42That is also an issue in jungles that's very difficult to do.
11:46So, multiple challenges for the security forces as far as jungle operations are concerned.
11:51But this, obviously, is an incident that has happened even in that side after some time.
11:56There was a lull.
11:56There was a gap where previously, if you talk of last four, five years, terrorists, especially from the JASH, were
12:02operational in these areas.
12:04And they used to carry out, come down, carry out attacks against army vehicles, patrol parties, and then run back
12:12into the forest.
12:12That was made difficult because security forces launched a counter strategy, went after them.
12:18There were many successful operations.
12:19But as you've been saying, this is a continuous cycle where you have infiltration, you have new recruits, a new
12:26terror guard coming in, taking over from the old guard.
12:29And this has been happening in the last 35 years.
12:33So, we'll have to wait and see who's behind it, whether any local terrorist angle or these IFTs who have
12:39come from the other side and are operational or have got operational in this tough jungle terrain.
12:44Anjali?
12:44All right.
12:45May you do stay with us.
12:46Sandeep Unithan also continues to stay with us.
12:48Sandeep, first the attack on the CRPF personnel and then the special police officers have been attacked.
12:54They have been killed.
12:55Do you think that there's a clear shift in the terror tactics by these terrorists?
13:28Well, it's actually more of the same, Anjali.
13:29Very dense, impenetrable jungles there.
13:32It's very difficult to do coordinate search of the kind that you do on the planes in the urban area.
13:38So, terrorists have been hiding out over there to carry out their hit-and-run attacks.
13:42So, this particular attack also suggests a similar modus operandi of terrorists hiding in the high reaches and then coming
13:49down and carrying out these attacks, hit-and-run attacks on soft targets, you know, carrying out attacks where they
13:55would not be endangered themselves.
13:57They are not having any, you know, firefights with the security forces, for instance.
14:02It's hit-and-run so they can conserve their energy, they can conserve, protect themselves and run away and live
14:08to fight another day.
14:09So, I think the security forces would be very keen on ensuring that this kind of thing is, they plug
14:16all the gaps in the security cordons while they handle these terrorists.
14:22The multiple, you know, terrorists that seem to be on the run over the last couple of days.
14:27Anjali.
14:28Absolutely.
14:29Sandeep, thank you so much for joining us with those details and also highlighting the fact that how these special
14:35police officers are being made the soft targets by these terrorists.
14:38Because they are not much trained to handle such circumstances in the valley.