Agencies
Awantipora, January 21:
An encounter broke out between militants and the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday. Two militants and one Indian Army jawan and one Special Police Officer (SPO) of J&K Police lost their lives in the encounter.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Khrew following information about the presence of militants in the area, an officer said. This was the second major encounter in Kashmir in the past two days.
According to reports, police had a specific input about the presence of militants in the Zand village of Tral. A contact was eventually established with the militants, who were hiding in a house that led to the fire fight.
The Kashmir Zone Police had earlier tweeted that the encounter at Awantipora had begun and police & security forces were carrying out the operations.
The operation turned into an encounter after the militants opened fire. The security forces retaliated, triggering a gunbattle that was going on till the last reports came in.
One of the slain militants was identified as Adil Ahmad, a special police officer who had deserted the force in 2018. He had decamped with seven AK assault rifles and a pistol from the official residence of then Wachi MLA Aijaz Ahmad Mir from Jawahar Nagar area in the city, the official said.
The other two militants were identified as Waseem Wani and Jahangir, officials said.
Earlier, three Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a police deserter and a top-ranking commander, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, police said.
In another incident, earlier this month, a local militant was killed in an encounter with security forces in Awantipora, police said. The militant been identified as Shahid, a resident of Bijbehara area of Anantnag district, the police said.
He was asked to surrender by the security forces but he chose to engage them in a gunbattle, they said, adding that the ultra was killed after a brief exchange of fire.
