Jammu, Sep 13 (IANS): A search operation is on for the second day on Thursday to trace three militants who fired at a CRPF trooper and a forest guard on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Udhampur district before escaping.

They had vanished in the bushes here in Jhajar Kotli area on Wednesday.

"A search operation is being carried out by the army, police and the Central Reserve Police Force in the forests of Jhajar and adjoining areas," police said.

A villager from the area told the security forces that around 10 p.m. the three armed militants carrying haversacks entered his house, changed their clothes, took biscuits and water and left.

Militant movement in the area is being tracked using drones, helicopters and other surveillance gadgets, a police officer said.

Traffic on the national highway between Nagrota-Jhajar Kotli has been suspended. Schools in the area have also been closed for the day.

The three militants were on a truck when they fired at the two victims. They then abandoned the vehicle and vanished into the thick bushy forest. The police has detained the driver and helper of the truck.

One AK-47 rifle and three magazines were recovered, the officer said.

A police statement has said that the three militants were carrying two AK-47 rifles, a pistol and haversacks.