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Jaish commander killed in encounter in Sopore in Kashmir
Police said the 23-year-old Jaish commander had joined the terror outfit two years ago.
A local Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) commander was killed in a gun battle with security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Wednesday, police said.
The encounter started in the morning and raged for the entire day. On Tuesday night, army, police and the CRPF had launched a joint operation in Gulabad Arampora locality in the main Sopore town after the forces had received an input about presence of terrorists in the area.
As the operation began late last night, the area around the locality was completely sealed and army and police had installed lights to prevent militants from escaping under the cover of darkness. In the morning, forces and terrorists began to exchange fire which continued till late afternoon. One militant was killed in the initial gunfight and was identified as a local who lived barely three kilometers away from the encounter site.
A police spokesman said that Sajjad Nawab Dar was neutralized in the gunfight. “The operation was launched on a credible input the operation was launched at Arampora, two to four terrorists were present in the area.’’
Dar (23), who was the commander of Jaish-e- Mohammad had joined terror group two years ago, the spokesman said.
The Jaish leader had allegedly threatened and intimidated peace loving citizens of Sopore and nearby areas, he said.
“He explored the opportunities to assault security forces and VIP rallies through his overground workers (OGWs) and also motivated local youth for grenade attacks against security forces in return of monetary benefits,” he said.
In the morning mobile internet was also suspended in the area and people were prevented from going near the encounter spot. One house in which militants were hiding was completely damaged in the encounter.
This is the third encounter in Kashmir in less than a week including one on the Line of Control (LoC) in which five para commandos died and five terrorists were killed at Keran. The bodies of the militants have been buried at Jumgund forests after the DNA samples were taken. Three families in south Kashmir have claimed that among the five slain militants in Keran operation three are their kin who went missing in 2018.
