J&K terrorist killed in Shopian joint operation was LeT operative: Police

A spokesperson for the Jammu and Kashmir Police said Aqib Ahmad Paul, who was killed in an operation in Shopian, was a categorised terrorist and accused of multiple cases of terror attacks

SRINAGAR: The terrorist killed in the encounter that started in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Monday evening was linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, police said. One soldier was also injured in the operation carried out in Shopian’s Heff Shirmal village.

A Lashkar-e-Taiba operative was killed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district during a joint operation conducted by police, army and CRPF following a lead on the presence of terrorists in the village (HT File Photo/Wazeem Andrabi)

The operation, carried out jointly by the Kashmir police, Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), ended on Tuesday after a thorough search in the entire village.

“During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the suspected spot, the hiding terrorist fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter. In the initial exchange of fire, an army jawan received gunshot injuries and was evacuated to hospital for treatment of his injuries,” a police spokesman said.

The dead terrorist was identified as Aqib Ahmad Paul, a local, who was linked with the banned LeT.

“As per police records, the killed terrorist was a categorized terrorist and involved in terror crime cases including attacks on police and the security forces. Arms, ammunition and other incriminating materials of proscribed terror outfit LeT were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation. A case was registered and investigation taken up,” the spokesperson said.