Srinagar: Police claimed on Thursday to have killed two local militants of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) in an overnight gunfight in Bijbehara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
JeM militants Adil Ahmad Bhat and Zahid Ahmad Rather were killed on Thursday morning by the joint team of police, army’s 3 RR and CRPF in Kandipora village of Bijbehara in the exchange of gunfire that ensued when the former rejected repeated surrender offers and fired upon the state forces to break the cordon, a police spokesperson said.
As per police records, he said, both the killed militants were involved in several crime cases including attacks on security forces and “civilian atrocities”.
“Incriminating materials including arms & ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe his complicity in other crimes,” he added.
According to the police spokesperson, the encounter broke out on Wednesday evening when the state forces launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) on the basis of specific input generated by police regarding presence of militants in the village.
“During the search operation, as the presence of militants got ascertained they were given opportunity to surrender, however, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter,” he said.
“Due to darkness the operation was suspended however the cordon remained intact throughout night,” he added.
The police spokesperson further said that the last rites of the killed militants shall be performed after conducting their medico-legal formalities and their nearest family members shall be allowed to participate in their last rites.
“In this connection a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials, if any,” he added.
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