J&K gunbattle ends, LeT man killed

Security forces rescued 3 civilians from a hotel before resuming operation to flush out terrorists holed up in Lal Chowk.

The gunbattle between terrorists and security forces at Lal Chowk in the heart of city ended after 25 hours this evening with the killing of a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist and arrest of his associate, a Pakistani national.

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The operation at Lal Chowk ended this evening with the killing of the holed up terrorist in a hotel and arrest of his associate identified as Aijaz Ahmad Bhat codenamed Abu Sumna, Director General of State Police Gopal Sharma said.

While the identity of the killed terrorist was yet to be established, Sharma said the arrested terrorist was between 18 and 19 years of age and a resident of the Pakistani city of Faislabad. He is understood to have infiltrated into Kashmir after the October 8 killer quake, Sharma added.

Two CRPF Jawans and two civilians were killed and 21 others including seven security personnel were injured while a number of trapped civilians were rescued during the prolonged operation.

The gunbattle began around 1515 hours on Monday when terrorists hurled a grenade at Palladium chowk and then opened fire on the security personnel there and in the nearby Clock tower area. They then took positions in a hotel in the locality and fired at the security forces triggering the gunbattle that lasted for about 25 hours.