Three Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists and a jawan were killed at Batote in Jammu’s Ramban district along the Jammu-Kishtwar National Highway on Saturday after a nine-hour operation.
The terrorists were identified as Osama Javed and Zahid — both from Kishtwar — and Moin-ul-Islam, a resident of Shopian.
The trio belonged to the new Hizbul Mujahideen module activated by Jehangeer Saroori, a ‘commander’ active in the area for two decades.
The incident occurred early on Saturday when the trio were planning to leave the region. Javed and Zahid were allegedly involved in a spate of killings in Kishtwar, including the 2018 double murder of BJP leader Anil Parihar and his brother Ajit. The were also involved in the April 9 killing of RSS functionary Chanderkant Sharma and his personal security officer.
On September 13 the duo allegedly snatched weapons from the house of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) district president Sheikh Nasir Hussain in Kishtwar.
After being chased by the security forces, the terrorists, who were dressed in camouflage uniforms, entered a residential house. The family members mistook them for security forces and offered them tea.
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told The Hindu that the terrorists were given ample opportunity to surrender with the police even made them speak to their family members on phone to convince them.
“In the past ten days, we destroyed half a dozen hideouts of theirs and arrested three people who provided them shelter. They were planning to leave the town and were moving towards Valley when they tried to stop a car this morning. The driver informed a patrol party ahead and when the security forces chased them, they took refuge in one of the houses in Babote,” Mr. Singh said.
An alert was sounded in the area and as the terrorists were wearing olive green patterned dress, the family welcomed them and offered them tea.
“Once they realised that they were not from the forces, one of them got out of the house and informed the police. The security forces covered the house from all sides but an elderly family member — Vijay Kumar Verma — couldn't come out. He was rescued 45 minutes later as the police closed in on the house. The terrorists then jumped from the balcony and moved towards an open area where an encounter broke. It was in this exchange of fire that we lost an army jawan and two policemen were also injured,” said Mr. Singh.
Security agencies had anticipated terror attacks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday. National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval had camped in Srinagar ahead of the PM’s address in New York and asked the security forces to resume operations. The operations had dipped since August 5 when severe restrictions including communication blockade were imposed in the Kashmir Valley after the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A.
In another incident, around 12.45 p.m. on Saturday, terrorists lobbed a grenade on the troops of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) while they were out for law and order duty in Nawakadal area of Srinagar. “The grenade exploded at a distance away from the troops. No loss or injury was reported,” a CRPF official said.
In a third incident, one terrorist was killed and “weapon and warlike stores” were recovered in Ganderabal district of Kashmir Valley by the army. Police said the person killed had freshly infiltrated from Gurez sector, while another accomplice of his managed to escape.
