A Special Forces commando was killed in action during an encounter with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists in the remote Singpura area of Kishtwar district, the Indian Army confirmed on Monday.

Havildar Gajendra Singh, a native of Uttarakhand, made the supreme sacrifice after being critically wounded during the initial exchange of fire on Sunday. He was among nine personnel injured when a group of foreign terrorists lobbed grenades and fired indiscriminately to break a security cordon.

The Nagrota-based White Knight Corps paid tribute to the fallen soldier on Monday. “The GOC, White Knight Corps, and all ranks pay tribute to Havildar Gajendra Singh, who made the supreme sacrifice while gallantly executing a counter-terrorism operation during the ongoing Operation TRASHI-I,” the army stated. “We honour his indomitable courage and stand firmly with the bereaved family in this hour of profound grief,” it added.

The gunfight broke out around Sunday noon in the Sonnar forest belt, northeast of Chatroo, during a joint search operation by the army and Jammu and Kashmir Police. According to officials, a search team intercepted two to three foreign terrorists, suspected to be Jaish-e-Mohammad operatives, who launched a desperate attack using grenades.

The intense firefight lasted several hours before a night-long halt due to the difficult terrain and thick vegetation. While five soldiers were treated at a local facility, three critically injured personnel, including Havildar Gajendra Singh, were airlifted to the Command Hospital, Udhampur, where the commando later succumbed.

With the first light of Monday, security forces launched a fresh search to track the group. Additional reinforcements from the army, CRPF, and J&K Police have been inducted to plug all possible escape routes in the dense woods.

“Advanced surveillance equipment, including drones and sniffer dogs, has been deployed to speed up the operation. We are maintaining a tight cordon to ensure the terrorists are neutralised,” a senior police officer said.

This is the third major encounter in the Jammu region this month, following gunfights in Kathua’s Billawar area on January 7 and 13. Security has been significantly heightened across the forest belts of Kishtwar, Doda, and Udhampur in the run-up to Republic Day, amid intelligence inputs of Pakistan-based handlers attempting to push more terrorists into the region.