J&K encounter: 3 detained for questioning as search operations continue in Poonch-Rajouri forests

Three persons, including a mother-son duo, were detained for questioning during an ongoing search operation in the forest belt of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Rajouri border districts where nine soldiers were killed in two separate gunfights with terrorists over the past week, officials said on Sunday.

A man along with a 45-year-old woman and her son, all residents of Bhatta Durrian forest, were taken into custody for questioning on the suspicion of giving logistic support to terrorists, the officials said.

READ: 2 non-local civilians killed in J&K on Sunday

It was a matter of investigation whether they provided food and shelter to the terrorists voluntarily or at gunpoint, they said.

Five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), laid down their lives in a fierce gunfight during a counter-insurgency operation in Surankote forest on Monday. Four soldiers, including another JCO, died in another encounter in the Mendhar sector on Thursday evening.

The officials underlined that the area is mountainous and the forest is dense, which makes the operation difficult and dangerous.

WATCH: Seven day long encounter in J&K's Poonch, updates you need