KISHTWAR, Nov 12: The bodies of two Special Police Officers (SPOs), who had been missing since the previous day, were recovered from the Dachhan-Marwah area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district on Thursday morning.
The deceased were identified as Rashpal Kumar and Babi Chand.
Police continued their investigation to ascertain the exact cause of death and identify those involved in the incident.
Security forces have remained on alert over the presence of terrorists in Kishtwar's remote mountainous and densely forested areas. Several encounters involving the Army, the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Special Operations Group (SOG) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have taken place in the district this year.
Intelligence agencies suspect that a Jaish-e-Mohammed group is active in the upper reaches of Kishtwar. Security agencies have also considered the possibility of terrorist infiltration from the international border through Kathua into the hilly areas of Doda and Kishtwar.
An operation named Trashi-1 was launched in the Chhatru area in January this year. An Army Special Forces havildar was killed and several personnel were injured during the operation. One terrorist was reported killed on February 4 and three others on February 22.
Security agencies have also remained alert over allegations that overground workers supplied food, mobile phones and other essential items to terrorists in return for money.
