Srinagar: Following the attack on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) post in Akhran, Amapora, in Kulgam district, forces continued cordon and search operations (CASO) across the district for the fourth day on Saturday (November 14). The forces have detained around 500 persons affiliated with alleged overground worker (OGW) networks and banned organisations for questioning. Several have been detained under preventive laws.The intensified crackdown comes in the aftermath of the November 11 attack on a CRPF checkpoint around 2 km away from the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. Three CRPF personnel were injured in the attack.According to a police spokesperson, several detained suspects were shifted to District Jail Mattan in Anantnag under preventive laws.Search operations to nab the attackers have been conducted across different parts of the district, targeting individuals, groups and locations where encounters have taken place in the past. The suspected hideouts of active as well as deceased militants are also underway.Extent of CASOThe extensive search operations are ongoing in Bhan, Arreh, Daderkot, Nowpora, Batapora and Mohammad Pora. All the entry and exit points to these areas have been sealed, and additional personnel have been deployed to keep track of any movement.Residents of the affected areas have been asked to remain indoors until further instructions. Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group and the army are conducting joint searches in residential neighbourhoods, orchards and villages. They have deployed sniffer dogs as well.Security personnel check identity cards as a cordon and search operation continues for the second day near Mir Bazar, in Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir, November 12, 2026. Photo: PTI.Visuals circulating online from Kulgam and other parts of Kashmir showed forces stopping vehicles and frisking passengers, evoking memories of the 1990s, when such searches were a routine part of everyday life for residents.“This is not new for us. We have seen this in the past. Whenever there is an attack or an encounter, such frisking of civilians is expected,” a 70-year-old resident of Kulgam told The Wire.Some visuals showed security personnel checking passengers’ bags and asking men to lift their pherans, the loose traditional Kashmiri gowns, during frisking.With tightened security, vehicle checking has intensified, and both barricades and armoured vehicles are stationed at several locations.A cordon and search operation near Mir Bazar, in Kulgam district, Jammu and Kashmir, November 12, 2026. Photo: PTI.A senior police officer in Kulgam told The Wire that students and patients were being allowed to travel, while the ongoing CASO has restricted the movement of other local residents.In the meantime, Kulgam Police raided more than 200 locations linked to the associates of the banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI), seizing what the police described as incriminating material and digital devices for investigation.According to the police spokesperson, the raids were conducted as part of an operation to dismantle what they termed the “terror ecosystem” and its support structure at the grassroots level. “During the raids, incriminating material and digital devices were seized, and several JeI members were interrogated and bound down to further trace and disrupt networks aiding terrorism,” the spokesperson said.The raids spread to neighbouring Shopian district, targeting people said to be associated with JeI.Investigation so farPreliminary investigations suggest that three armed men approached the CRPF checkpoint on foot through a marshy stretch before opening fire with AK-47 rifles. The attackers fled through nearby trees and bushes after CRPF personnel retaliated. Three paramilitary personnel sustained injuries in the firing, which took place around 2.15 pm.The National Investigation Agency (NIA) subsequently visited the site and collected evidence for forensic examination. Investigators have recovered a Motorola mobile phone and a SIM card, besides examining cartridges found at the spot.Police have identified Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Mohammad Lateef Bhat, 22, and two suspected foreign accomplices as the alleged attackers. Bhat, a carpenter from Kulgam, is also wanted in connection with two attacks in Anantnag and Kulgam in July that left a police officer and two migrant workers from Chhattisgarh dead, officials said.Police have also issued posters of three wanted militants suspected of masterminding the attack.A senior police officer told Kashmir News Observer that around 300 alleged overground workers had been questioned in connection with the investigation.“Till now, 300 OGWs have been questioned. Assailants will soon be nailed,” the officer said.