J&K: 5 LeT terrorists killed in encounter in Pulwama, 1 soldier martyred

Srinagar: In a major anti-terror operation, five Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists and an Army jawan were killed during an overnight encounter in south Kashmir's Pulwama district, police said on Friday. One army officer was also injured during the encounter and later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital.

Based on a tip-off regarding the presence of terrorists in the Hanjin Rajpora area, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by the police, the army and the CRPF on the night of July 1.

According to officials, the civilians were evacuated to safer places during the search operation.

As the presence of terrorists got ascertained, they were given an opportunity to surrender. However, officials claimed that the terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter.

Due to darkness, the operation was suspended though the cordon remained intact throughout the night.

"On Friday morning, repeated announcements were made urging the hiding terrorists to surrender, but the terrorists again fired on the joint search party which was retaliated. In the initial exchange of fire, two army jawans received gunshot injuries and were rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, one of them later attained martyrdom," the police said.

During the ensuing encounter, five terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the gunfight.

The slain terrorists have been identified as Nishaz Hussain Lone alias Khitab (district commander LeT), a resident of Nageenpora Tral, Danish Manzoor Shiekh, a resident of Sathergund Kakapora, Amir Wagay, a resident of Hanjan Payeen, Mehran Manzoor, a resident of Jamalatoo Srinagar, and a foreign terrorist identified as Abu Rehan alias Tawheed, a resident of Pakistan.

"All the killed terrorists were linked to the proscribed terror outfit LeT," the police said.

As per records, all the killed terrorists were part of groups that were involved in many terror crime cases and civilian atrocities, the police said.

Arms, ammunition and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of the encounter.

"One SLR rifle belonging to the J&K Police, which was snatched by terrorists in 2016, was also recovered from the encounter site," the police said.

Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar has congratulated the police and the security forces for successfully conducting the operation in a professional manner.