2 terrorists behind civilian and cop killings in J&K eliminated; JCO remains missing
SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Two terrorists involved in the recent killings of a civilian and a police officer in Srinagar were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday, police said.
According to the police, Shahid Bashir Shiekh and Tanzeel Ahmad, both residents of Srinagar, were killed during two separate search and cordon operations in Kashmir’s Wahibugh and Bemina areas. “One #terrorist of #Srinagar City involved in recent civilian killing, neutralised in #Pulwama #encounter,” IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said in a Twitter post.
“He (Sheikh) was involved in the killing of a civilian, Mohammad Shafi Dar -- an employee of the Power Development Department, on 2/10/21. One AK rifle along with magazine and ammunition was recovered,” a police spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, in a separate encounter in Srinagar’s Bemina area, security forces eliminated Tanzeel Ahmad, who was involved in the killing of sub inspector Arshid Ahmad at Khanyar in September. Tanzeel was affiliated with The Resistance Force, said Singh.
So far this year, security forces have killed 123 terrorists during encounters across Kashmir
Efforts on to trace JCO Two soldiers from Uttarakhand were killed in an encounter with terrorists in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) while a junior commissioned officer (JCO) was missing, taking the number of Army personnel killed in the counterterrorism operations in the area to seven this week, the Army said on Friday.
Defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand said the two soldiers — 26-year-old Vikram Singh Negi and 27-year-old Yogambar Singh — were killed during a search and cordon operation, in the Nar Khas forest area of
Poonch’s Mendhar on Thursday evening.
“During the operation, there was heavy exchange of fire and in the ensuing gunfight, Rifleman Vikram Singh Negi and Rifleman Yogambar Singh were critically injured and later succumbed to their injuries,” he said.
“(The two)...displayed exemplary courage, devotion and made the supreme sacrifice in (the) line of duty. The nation will always remain indebted to these brave hearts for their supreme sacrifice for the nation.”
Negi hailed from village Viman Gaon, Narendra Nagar, in Uttarakhand’s Tehri
Garhwal district while Singh was from village Sankari in the state’s Chamoli district.
An army official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the JCO was presumed dead initially, but later he was found missing.
Efforts are on to trace him, the official added.
On October 11, five army personnel, including a JCO, were killed in an encounter in Dera Ki Gali in the Surankote area of Poonch district.
The casualties in that encounter were the worst security forces have suffered in anti-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir this year and came days after a series of targeted attacks left seven civilians dead in the region.
A second army officer said the terrorists involved in the Nar Khas gunfight are likely to be part of the same group involved in the October 11 encounter.
The army has launched a search operation in a forest area between the mountainous border districts of Rajouri and Poonch. The area is treacherous, making the operation difficult and dangerous, an officer said. A third Army officer said the loss of seven soldiers within four days showed that infiltration attempts were on and some of them were successful.
The officer said infiltration attempts usually increase in October right before the onset of winter and closure of routes due to heavy snowfall.
J&K Police chief Dilbag Singh in August said that infiltration resumed after a brief lull following a renewed ceasefire agreement between the director general of military operations (DGMOS) of India and Pakistan in February. He, however, added that terror camps across the border remained intact.
The DGMOS on February 25 announced the two countries agreed to strictly observe the ceasefire along the LOC.
The J&K Police have said that the terrorists involved in October 11 attacks on security forces in Poonch were present in the area for the last two to three months.