Chinese sniper rifle telescope recovered in Jammu’s Sidhra area

Jammu, Dec 21: Police Sunday recovered a Chinese made sniper-cum-assault-rifle telescope from Sidhra area in Jammu outskirts, ringing alarm bells in security circles amid heightened alert.

The Police, including its Special Operations Group (SOG), joined by other security agencies were enquiring into the matter.

As per official sources, the recovery, one of its kind, was made from the vicinity of vital security installations in Jammu, including National Investigation Agency (NIA) office and Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) security headquarters.

Following the recovery, senior officials of different security agencies, including those from Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP), immediately rushed to the spot.

Later in the evening, the Police, in a brief official statement, while asking the people not to panic, said that inquiry was being conducted into the matter.

“Jammu (Rural) Police today recovered a telescope (that can be mounted on a weapon) from the Sidhra area. Local Police and parties of the SOG are conducting further enquiry into the matter. The public is advised not to panic,” read the brief Police statement.

Though senior officers did not divulge further details yet the sources pointed out that the Chinese telescope, which can be attached to a sniper or assault rifle, was noticed this afternoon by the alert security personnel in the possession of a child in Sidhra.

After the matter was immediately reported to the Police Post Sidhra, the child’s family was quizzed and it came to the fore that he (child) found it from the garbage dump amid wild growth in the vicinity in the morning. The telescope was also handed over to the Sidhra Police Post in-charge for further action.

Notably, the battalion headquarters of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) also fall in the same vicinity.

Recovery sent security agencies in a tizzy as in the past few days, several incidents of sighting of suspicious persons from different areas in Jammu, Samba, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Rajouri and Poonch have been reported triggering massive Cordon and Search Operations (CASOs).

In Udhampur district, one SOG cop even lost his life in an encounter between the terrorists and the security forces on December 15.

Dense fog has further added to the layers of security concerns amid apprehensions of infiltration from across the border putting the security forces on high alert.

Even on Sunday, the searches by joint teams of Police, Army and paramilitary forces were underway in Chore Moru and other adjoining villages in Majalta area of Udhampur district after a villager reported that two terrorists took food from his house and escaped into the dense forests.