2 min readJammuJan 31, 2026 11:21 AM IST
The Army’s White Knight Corps, along with the Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF, on Saturday re-established contact with terrorists involved in the January 18 encounter in which a soldier was killed in Kishtwar district’s Chhatru.
The joint operation was launched following intelligence inputs about the latest location of the terrorists, who have been on the run since the brief encounter on January 18 in the Singhpora area of Chhatru. During the encounter, Army Havildar Gajendra Singh of the Special Forces was killed and seven other soldiers injured when terrorists hiding at a height opened fire on the approaching search party.
Since then, security forces have re-established contact with the terrorists two more times, on January 22 and 25. However, the terrorists managed to flee on both occasions. However, the security personnel continued their search and combing operations, and have gone deeper into the forests from all sides.
“During ongoing joint Operation TRASHI-1, contact with terrorists was re-established in the early hours of 31 Jan 2026, in the general area of Dolgam by the troops of the White Knight Corps, J&K Police and CRPF. Intelligence from all sources had been coordinated to provide inputs to execute the operation on ground. A cordon has been established and the operations are in progress,” said the Nagrota-based White Knight Corps on its X handle.
The firefight with terrorists have restarted a day after the Jammu and Kashmir Police got internet services temporarily suspended in Chhatru on the grounds that the high speed mobile data services may be misused by anti-national elements and miscreants to cause public disorder threatening peace, security and integrity of the country and the Union Territory of J&K.
For the past two years, Kishtwar’s Chhatru area has seen terrorist movement.
Last April, security forces and police, in a joint operation braving hostile terrain covered under two to three feet of snow and adverse weather conditions, killed three terrorists in the Chhatru area. The slain terrorists were responsible for the killing of a JCO and two village defence guards in separate attacks in the area during 2024, officials had said.