Two soldiers and a militant were on Saturday killed in an anti-militancy operation in Shopian district of south Kashmir’s.
A police spokesman said a militant was killed in the encounter that broke out in the Chermarg area of Shopian’s Zainapora earlier in the day.
“The police and security forces are on the job,” the spokesperson added.
Two Army personnel also lost their lives during the ongoing operation.
“Both jawans suffered fatal gunshot wounds between 9:15 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.,” an Army spokesperson said.
The Army identified the deceased soldiers as Sepoy Santosh Yadav and Sepoy Chavan Romit Tanaji of the Army’s 1 Rashtriya Rifles.
The police identified the slain militant as Abdul Qayoom Dar from Laroo in Pulwama’s Kakapora.
Arms and ammunitions, including an AK rifle and a pistol, were recovered from the encounter site.
“A cluster of houses were taken into cordon in the area. When the search party reached the house of Gowhar Ahmd Bhat, he deliberately misled it and denied sheltering the terrorist. While he was being questioned, the terrorist in the house opened fire on the search party causing grievous injuries to two of the soldiers,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.
Mr. Kumar said a case was registered against the house owner under terror laws. “Mr. Bhat has been arrested,” he said. Meanwhile, the police said the slain militant “has a history of being a terror associate”.
“In April 2020, an encounter took place in Dar’s house. He was arrested and booked under the Public Safety Act. He was released in August 2021, but continued to quietly work for terrorists. Senior Superintendent of Police, Pulwama, officially intimated some days earlier that he had joined as an active terrorist of the LeT outfit. Consequently, he has been categorised as C category terrorist,” Mr. Kumar said.
