Entire country united against terrorism: Priyanka Gandhi after CRPF inspector killed in J&K terror attack

New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday condoled the death of a CRPF inspector in a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur and said the entire country was united against terrorism and strongly condemned it in one voice.

In fresh bloodletting in the Jammu region, a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) inspector was killed when terrorists opened fire on a patrol party in Udhampur district on Monday.

Personnel of the CRPF and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the local police were attacked by terrorists around 3:30 pm in the remote Dudu area of Basantgarh, officials said.

They said CRPF inspector Kuldeep Kumar, belonging to the 187th battalion, was hit by a bullet and later succumbed to his injuries while being taken to hospital.

In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, "The news of CRPF inspector Kuldeep Kumar being martyred during an encounter with terrorists in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, is extremely saddening. May God grant peace to the departed soul." "My deepest condolences to the bereaved family. The entire country is united against terrorism and strongly condemns it in one voice," the Congress general secretary said.

A police spokesperson said an exchange of fire took place between terrorists and joint parties of the police and the CRPF during an area domination exercise at Chill village of Dudu.

In the encounter, one CRPF inspector suffered bullet injuries and attained martyrdom. (The anti-terrorist) operation continues, he said.

Kumar's mortal remains were being brought to the district headquarters for post-mortem.

The latest killing took the number of terror-related fatalities in Jammu and Kashmir this year to 74. The dead include 21 security personnel and 35 terrorists.

Of these, Jammu region's six districts -- Doda, Kathua, Reasi, Poonch and Rajouri districts -- accounted for 30 deaths, including that of 14 security personnel and six terrorists.