Amid heavy firing in Jammu district, PM Modi arrives in J&K

Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday arrived in this Jammu and Kashmir winter capital for a day-long BJP poll campaign. [caption id=“attachment_1826111” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Narendra Modi arrived in Jammu for BJP poll campaigning. Reuters[/caption] A special plane carrying Modi landed at the technical area of Jammu airport around noon. “He has taken off for Udhampur town in a helicopter where he is scheduled to address a BJP election rally. He is also addressing another rally in Poonch district later today,” BJP sources said in Jammu. Both Udhampur and Poonch districts with three assembly constituencies each are going to polls on 2 December in the second phase of the five-phase state assembly elections. Modi arrives in Jammu as heavy firing is on in the district. The toll in the gunfight between the security forces and infiltrators that restarted on Friday after a lull has risen to 11. A group of heavily-armed militants infiltrated into the Indian side of the border at Arnia in Jammu district on Thursday. The security forces took them on and four militants were killed. Sources said the lone surviving militant is presumed to be firing on Friday from an abandoned army bunker in Pind Khote village of the RS Pura area. A senior police officer said another body was recovered on Friday morning during searches in Arnia area of Jammu district, the site of the gunbattle. “Searches in the area had to be stopped after heavy firing exchanges started again at the site this morning,” a senior army officer told IANS in Jammu. “Another dead body has been recovered during Friday’s searches.” “The toll has risen to 11… So far, four civilians, three soldiers and four militants have been killed,” the officer added. IANS