44 Rashtriya Rifles Army Men Dig Out Underground Terrorist Bunkers amidst River.

"In the Kashmir Valley, terrorists hiding at high altitude areas or taking shelter in local homes have become a thing of the past. They now build underground bunkers in dense forests to avoid military and security forces. Even under seasonal rivers bunkers are dug up. This trend has been seen in operation in Pulwama and Shopian recently as there are dense apple orchards and forests," says Colonel AK Singh of the Army's Anti-Terrorism Unit 44 Rashtriya Rifles.

He said that these two districts are considered to be strongholds of terrorists. The situation was not easy for his team to find underground bunkers as the terrorists could remain hidden for several days without the security forces knowing about it. The finding of a bunker in the middle of Rambi Ara, affected by the fluctuations in water level and the sudden flood, was nothing short of a surprise for the security forces.

"The terrorists had made iron bunkers in the middle of Rambi Ara to hide. Army soldiers saw the lid of an oil drum open which the terrorists used as a way to get into the bunker. Based on suspicion, there was a secret surveillance. We were very surprised to see that terrorists are coming out from the middle of the river, which is usually filled with water only during the rainy season," Colonel AK Singh added.

Five militants of banned militant groups Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen were killed earlier this year. However, what was more worrying for the army than killing these terrorists was that the terrorists are capable of building and living in underground bunkers. It was informed that through technical intelligence monitoring and human resources, the survey was ordered in the surrounding areas, especially Shopian. On this, information about cellars and underground bunkers began to be found inside traditional Kashmiri houses.

In June this year, security forces unearthed another underground bunker located in a high altitude area covered with dense apple trees in Bandoh. The terrorists were living 12 feet tall and 10 feet wide underground bunkers here. The terrorists were living there comfortably while the army was searching for them in the villages. This bunker was revealed when security forces visited the ground covered with plastic and the soil was freshly carved.

The terrorists in Shopian had built an underground bunker along the river and put a pipe to breathe in the iron box. AK Singh said that this list is long. Hopefully they will find more underground bunkers. 

He told that the way of underground bunker from the basement, artificial places have been made to hide in the houses. In many homes, the way to the underground bunker is from the basement of the houses. An underground room was discovered in Amarbug area of ​​Shopian. Ten feet long, eight feet high and six feet deep, this room was built adjacent to the boundary of a house. Here the facility of charging the battery with the help of inverter battery was also available.