Two soldiers and a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist were killed in a gunfight in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, Jammu and Kashmir Police said on Saturday.
The Army identified the deceased soldiers as sepoys Santosh Yadav and Chavan Romit Tanaji of 1 Rashtriya Rifles.
The encounter took place after a joint search operation was launched late on Friday night at Chermarg in Zainpora of Shopian based on a specific intelligence input of police about the presence of a terrorist, said Vijay Kumar, inspector general of police, Kashmir range.
Following standard operating procedure, security personnel involved in the search operation closed in on a cluster of houses and started moving out civilians, Kumar said in a statement.
“When the search team reached the house of Gowhar Ahmed Bhat, he intentionally misled them and denied providing shelter to any terrorist. As Bhat was being questioned, a terrorist opened fire on the search team from inside the house, causing grievous injuries to two army personnel,” Kumar said.
In the ensuing encounter, LeT terrorist Abdul Qayoom Dar, a resident of Laroo Kakpora in Pulwama, was killed and arms and ammunition, including one rifle and a pistol, were recovered, Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}In the ensuing encounter, LeT terrorist Abdul Qayoom Dar, a resident of Laroo Kakpora in Pulwama, was killed and arms and ammunition, including one rifle and a pistol, were recovered, Kumar said.
{{/usCountry}}The injured soldiers later succumbed to their injuries, police said.
“A case has been registered and the house owner arrested under terror laws,” Kumar said.
Dar was arrested and booked under the Public Safety Act after an encounter took place in his house in April 2020. He was released in August 2021. However, he continued to work as part of a sleeper cell for the banned terrorist group and fled from his house recently.
After verifying his disappearance and his joining with the banned terror outfit, Pulwama’s senior superintendent of police recently declared him as an active terrorist, Kumar said.
This year so far, three police personnel and as many army soldiers have been killed in various terrorist attacks and gunfights in Kashmir.
Last week, a policeman was killed and four others injured during a grenade attack by terrorists in north Kashmir’s Bandipora town.
On February 7, a local LeT terrorist was killed at Nambal Awantipora in Pulwama district. On February 5, two more LeT terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces at Zakura on the outskirts of Srinagar.
As many as 25 terrorists, including eight from Pakistan, have been killed in 14 encounters this year so far, with most of the gunfights taking place in south Kashmir, according to police data.