Bandipora, March 11: Security forces busted an old militant hideout in the Ranar forest area of Bandipora during a joint search operation.
According to officials, the operation was jointly carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the Indian Army (14 Rashtriya Rifles). During the search operation in the forest area, forces recovered a cache of arms and ammunition believed to have been hidden for a long time.
01 RPG launcher
01 Light Machine Gun (LMG)
01 LMG belt box
07 AK-47 magazines (05 filled, 02 empty)
03 ammunition pouches
01 pistol magazine
Approximately 350 rounds of 7.62 mm LMG ammunition
Approximately 450 rounds of AK-47 ammunition
01 hand grenade
Officials said the hideout and the recovered materials were destroyed on the spot as part of the search-and-destroy operation. Further searches in the surrounding forest area were also conducted to rule out the presence of any additional militant infrastructure.
Such operations are routinely conducted by security forces to prevent militants from reusing old hideouts in the dense forest belts of north Kashmir.
