Srinagar, Oct 20 : Four militants and a soldier were killed and two soldiers injured in twin gunfights in Shopian and Kulgam districts on Wednesday, police said. Among the two militants, police said, one each was district commander of Lashker-e-Toiba for Shopian and Kulgam respectively and were “involved” in the recent killing of a carpenter from UP and two labourers from Bihar.
A police spokesman said that on a specific input regarding presence of militants in Dragad area of Shopian, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, army’s 44RR and 178Bn CRPF in the area.
“During the search operation, as the presence of (militants) got ascertained, they were given repeated opportunities to surrender; instead they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated, leading to an encounter,” the spokesman said, adding, “In the ensuing encounter, two (militants) were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter.”
They have been identified as Adil Hussain Wani son of Ghulam Hussain Wani of Shirmal and Shakir Ahmad Wani son of Ghulam Qadir Wani of Litter Pulwama.
“Adil was District Commander Shopian of LeT (TRF),” the spokesman said in a statement to Kashmir Despatch.
Meanwhile, during the exchange of fire, the spokesman said three army soldiers were injured and were shifted to nearby hospital for the treatment. However, one among them namely Sepoy Karanveer Singh succumbed to his injuries, he said.
“As per police records, both the killed (militants) were involved in several cases including civilian atrocities,” he said, adding, “Adil Ahmad was active since July-2020 and was involved in several cases including recent killing of one poor carpenter Sageer Ahmad Ansari of Saharanpur UP at Litter Pulwama on October 16.”
Police said one of those involved in the killing of the carpenter was resident of the same village and got active recently after joining militant folds. “Reportedly, after the incident, both shifted from Litter to Dragad Shopian.”
Meanwhile, in a tweet said, Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said that Police and Army killed “LeT district commander Gulzar Ahmd Reshi of Kulgam and other (militant), who were involved in killings of two poor labourers from Bihar on 17 October 21 at Wanpoh.”
He said 11 successful anti-militantly operations have been carried post recent civilian killings and during past two weeks 17 militants were killed in these operations. “Most of them were involved in recent civilian killings,” he said.
