Terrorists from Pakistan are using the modus operandi of dumping arms and ammunition near the Line of Control (LoC) which are then smuggled into Kashmir by transient workers, Indian Army officials said on Tuesday.
These facts came to light after the army discovered two terror hideouts along the LoC in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir and seized a huge cache of arms and ammunition during a search operation on Monday.
According to Defence Ministry spokesperson Col. Rajesh Kalia, suspicious movements were detected along the LoC in Rampur Sector of Baramulla district on 30 August.
The army observed that the movement was from a village, located close to the LoC, from where suspects had crossed into Indian territory.
“Due to the adverse terrain, thick foliage and bad weather conditions, an alert was sounded for a likely infiltration attempt. The surveillance grid was beefed up across the area and ambushes were re-sited to thwart any such attempt. The surveillance continued through the night,” Kalia added.
On Monday, 31 August, around 5 am local time, a search was carried out in the area. After seven-hours, a huge cache of arms and ammunition was confiscated from two hideouts in Rampur Sector.
Army officials recovered five AK series rifles (along with six magazines and two sealed boxes with 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition), six pistols (with nine magazines and six rounds), twenty-one grenades, two UBGL grenades and two Kenwood radio-sets with one antenna.
"It shows the desperate attempts by Pakistan-based terror groups to infiltrate weapons into Jammu and Kashmir for terror activities with the active connivance of the Pakistan Army," an official of Indian Army told Sputnik while maintaining anonymity.
The official also revealed similar attempts were made last month when information was received regarding likely weapons drops along the LoC near to the anti-infiltration fence.
“At that time one AKS-74U with magazines, five pistols (one with Chinese markings) and magazines, 24 grenades and other warlike stores were recovered,” the officer said.