JK News Today
Srinagar, November 23:
Based on a credible input about the presence of terrorists, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by Police and security forces at the onset of dawn today inside a jungle area of Sekipora at Bijbehara in District Anantnag.
As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight.
In the process six terrorists were killed and the bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. Their identities and affiliation are being ascertained.
Incriminating materials including huge quantity of arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. Police has registered a case and initiated investigation in the matter.
Pertinently no collateral damage took place in this incident.
Citizens are requested not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosives materials if any.
It is further informed that the killed terrorists have been identified as Azad Ahmad Malik of Arwani Bijbehara, Unais Shafi of Takiya Maqbool Shah Bijbehara, Basit Ishtiyaq of Pushwara Anantnag, Atif Najar of Waghama Bijbehara, Firdous Ahmad of Muchpuna Pulwama and Shahid Bashir of Kawni Awantipora.
It was a combined group of HM and LeT as Unais Shafi and Basit Ishtiyaq as per police records were with HM and Unais was the district commander of Anantnag district, while the others were with LeT outfit.
All the killed six terrorists were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities.
As per police records Unais Shafi and Basit Ishtiyaq were involved in several grenade lobbing and firing incidents. Firdous Ahmad known as district commander of Pulwama for LeT had a long history of terror crime records including cases and the prominent among them include FIR No 16/2018, FIR No 131/2018, FIR No 139/2018, FIR No 284/2018 registered at PS Pulwama and FIR No 37/2018 at PS Rajpora.
Similarly Shahid was also involved in terror related crimes as well.
Pertinently Azad Ahmad Malik @Azad Dada who was District commander of LeT Anantnag had escaped from an encounter site at Khudwani Kulgam in April 2018 along with one more associate. Azad was a close associate of absconding accused Naveed Jatt. Azad Dada among several other terror offences had also figured in the case FIR No: 51/2018 PS Kothi Bagh pertaining to the assassination of journalist Shujaat Bukhari and his security personnel. In the aforementioned case which is under investigation, a hue and cry notice was issued against the said individual along with three others on the basis of material evidence collected.
Huge quantity of arms & ammunition including 4 AK 47 rifles and one Insas rifle were recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken in the case records for further investigation and probe their complicity in other terror cases.
Citizens are once again requested not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosives materials if any.
