Terrorist killed in Kulgam was from Pak, say police

Police Thursday identified the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist killed in Kulgam encounter on Wednesday as Babar Bhai, a native of Pakistan

Police Thursday identified the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorist killed in Kulgam encounter on Wednesday as Babar Bhai, a native of Pakistan.

A family member of senior constable Rohit Chib pays last respects to his mortal remains in Jammu on Thursday. (PTI)

Apart from Bhai, a police constable was killed, and three army soldiers and two civilians were injured in the encounter at Pariwan area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district.This is the ninth encounter in the Union Territory since January 1.

Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar visited the encounter site and special operation group (SOG) camp Nillow Kulgam, where besides interacting with Jammu and Kashmir Police, army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, he also reviewed the security grid and operational aspects.

Kumar said, “The owner of the house — where Bhai was hiding — deliberately misled the search team by concealing the information of his whereabouts which led to collateral damage. Action under terror law will be taken against them.”

Bhai, a top Pakistani JeM terrorist was active since 2018 in Shopian, Kulgam and its adjoining areas, said the police, adding, misleading information by the house owner led to the killing of the police constable — Rohit Chib — and injuries to three soldiers.

“All the injured were rushed to the hospital. The condition of injured is stated to be stable,” police said. One AK-47 rifle, one pistol and two grenades were also recovered from the encounter site.

Starting this year, 14 terrorists have been neutralized, out of which seven were foreign terrorists. As per the J&K Police official figures, last year, 171 terrorists were killed in Kashmir. The January figures take the number of terrorists killed in last 13 months to 185.