Srinagar, March 31 – A gunfight with terrorists broke out in Ganderbal district, J&K, on Tuesday evening after security forces surrounded a village based on specific intelligence, officials said.
According to official sources, following specific intelligence about the presence of terrorists, joint forces, including the army, the J&K Police, and the CRPF, surrounded the Arhama village in Ganderbal.
The sources stated that as the security forces closed in on the terrorists, believed to be two in number, they opened fire, triggering an encounter that is ongoing.
"All escape routes of the terrorists have been sealed. It is believed that two terrorists are hiding in the village, and they are engaged in a sustained gunfight," a source said.
The Ganderbal district in north Kashmir has been known to be free of any terrorist presence, and the encounter on Tuesday is a matter of concern for the security forces.
On October 20, 2024, terrorists attacked a worker's camp in the Gagangir area of Ganderbal, near the Sonamarg Z-Morh tunnel construction site. Seven people, six non-local labourers and a local doctor, were killed in that terror attack, while several others were injured.
The attack targeted personnel working on the vital Z-Morh tunnel project. The attack occurred in the evening at the Gagangir area in the Ganderbal district, where workers had returned to their camp.
On April 22, 2025, LeT terrorists killed 25 civilians, including 24 tourists and a local Pony owner, in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam.
The National Investigation Agency and police later released photographs of the suspects based on CCTV footage.
All three LeT terrorists, Pakistani nationals, involved in the October 2024 killing of seven people at the Sonamarg (Gagangir) tunnel construction site and 25 civilians on April 22, 2025, in Pahalgam, were killed by security forces during a subsequent operation on July 28, 2025. The perpetrators were eliminated in a joint mission by the Indian Army, CRPF, and J&K Police in an operation code-named "Operation Mahadev".
Security forces had confirmed that three terrorists linked to the attacks at Pahalgam and Sonamarg tunnel were killed during Operation Mahadev at the foot of the Mahadev mountain peak in Srinagar.