4 LET men linked to attacks on civilians, personnel killed
HT Correspondent
SRINAGAR: Four Lashkar-e-taiba (LET) terrorists were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Sunday.
Of the four, two were linked to the killing of three policemen last month, they added. “A total of 100 terrorists have been killed so far this year,” news agency ANI quoted Kashmir inspector general of police (IGP) Vijay Kumar as saying.
Three LET terrorists were killed in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district which erupted at around 6.55pm on Saturday. The gunfight broke out after a joint party of police, army and Central Reserve Police Force launched a cordon operation in Drabgam village following inputs about the possible presence of terrorists in the area.
As security personnel approached the spot, terrorists opened fire at the forces, who immediately retaliated, police said.
While one terrorist was killed on Saturday evening, the remaining two were killed in the wee hours of Sunday. The deceased were residents of the Pulwama district, the police said.
All three were involved in several terror crimes, including killings of security forces and civilians. One of them was linked to the murder of special police officer (SPO) Riyaz Ahmad, who was shot dead outside his house in Pulwama’s
Gudoora village last month, police said.
The bodies of the terrorists were retrieved from the encounter site, Kumar said. “All the three killed terrorists are locals, linked with terror outfit LET. One of them has been identified as Junaid Sheergojri (of Gadoora, Pulwama) involved in killing of our colleague martyr Riyaz Ahmad on May 13,” he said through a tweet from the handle of Kashmir Police Zone.
“The other two killed terrorists have been identified as Fazil Nazir Bhat and Irfan Ah Malik of Pulwama district,” he added.
Several arms and ammunition, including two AK 47 rifles and a pistol, were recovered from the site and taken for investigation, police said.
Besides his role in the SPO’S murder, Sheergojri was allegedly involved in the June 2 attack on migrant labourers at a brick kiln in Chadoora on the outskirts of the Pulwama-budgam axis, in which one labourer, Dilkhush Kumar from Bihar, was killed, a spokesperson said. In a separate encounter, a LET terrorist involved in the killings of two policemen last month was killed in Kreshwal, Palpora area of Srinagar, police said. The terrorist was identified as Adil Parray, a resident of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal.
“He was involved in targeted killings, including that of our martyrs Saifullah Qadri and Ghulam Hassan Dar in Srinagar district in month of May,” Srinagar Police said in a tweet.