Security forces on Sunday recovered the bodies of two Special Police Officers shot dead in an ambush in the upper reaches of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district.
The attackers escaped with the personnel's service weapons.
Search teams located SPO Rashpal Kumar, 40, and SPO Babi Chand, 54, near Dherna Top in the rugged Dachhan-Marwah belt after a multi-hour sweep across dense mountain terrain. Both men had vanished during an operational patrol alongside the Indian Army.
One officer sustained a fatal bullet wound to the head. The other was shot through the back.
Preliminary ballistic assessments indicate the two officers walked directly into a concealed firing position while hiking toward Dherna post to relieve two colleagues stationed at the high-altitude picket. Investigators confirmed that the assailants decamped with an INSAS assault rifle and a .303 service rifle assigned to the officers.
The contact occurred amid daylight silence in the higher ridges.
Villagers in the Dachhan-Marwah sector reported hearing sharp volleys of gunfire during the day. Headquarters initially tracked both officers through their mobile devices, but the signals abruptly died, triggering an immediate combat mobilization. When the pair failed to reach Dherna post by dusk, security formations launched an all-night sweep across the forested ridgeline.
Teams found the bodies at daybreak.
| Case Parameter | Operational Detail |
|---|---|
| Deceased Officers | SPO Rashpal Kumar (40), SPO Babi Chand (54) |
| Recovery Site | Dherna Top, Dachhan-Marwah belt, Kishtwar |
| Looted Weaponry | 1 INSAS rifle, 1 .303 service rifle |
| Operating Elements | Jammu and Kashmir Police, Indian Army joint unit |
| Assailant Profile | Suspected terrorist group active in forested pockets |
The killings arrive weeks after another fatal incident involving police personnel in the same district.
On October 16, authorities recovered the body of 55-year-old SPO Bashir Ahmed near his home in Wanipora Trigam. Ahmed, stationed at the Pedil Police Post, had disappeared while commuting off-duty with his issued Self-Loading Rifle and ammunition magazines. Police investigators later ruled out terrorism in that case, charging several of Ahmed's relatives who confessed to murdering him over a domestic land dispute.
Sunday's attack, however, bears the distinct operational markers of a targeted insurgent ambush aimed at weapons looting.
Army units and specialized counter-insurgency police forces have sealed all exit tracks leading from Dachhan into the adjoining Marwah and Wadwan valleys. Ground detachments backed by tracker units are scouring the forested ravines to intercept the group before it crosses the high passes into neighboring forest zones.