Srinagar: A day after two soldiers were martyred in an IED blast near the LoC in Rajouri district of the state, the security forces in a fierce encounter killed two terrorists in Katapora area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Saturday evening.
A senior police official said that on specific information about presence of some terrorists in the area, a cordon and search operation was launched. “As the security cordon tightened, the hiding terrorists fired at the security forces triggering an encounter in which two terrorists were neutralised,” said the police official.
He said that the entire area has been cordoned off and till reports last came in, search operation was on in the area as presence of some more terrorists was not being ruled out.
It may be mentioned here that on Friday, an Army Major and a jawan had lost their lives in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district.
Army spokesman said that the IED device was planted by suspected terrorists in Lam area of Nowshera sector.
Meanwhile, the state police on Sunday said it has identified the two terrorists killed in an encounter with the security forces on Saturday evening in Kulgam as among the two neutralised terrorists is a top commander.
According to a police statement, the terrorists who were killed on Saturday have been identified as top commander Zeenat-ul-Islam alias Zeenat alias Usman – resident of Shopian, and his associate Shakeel Ahmad Dar – resident of Chilli Pora village.
“Both the slain terrorists were affiliated with proscribed outfit Al-Badr and were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities.
“Zeenat-ul-Islam had a long history of crime records since 2006, when he got affiliated with Al-Badr and was later arrested,” the statement said.
“However, after he was released, he affiliated with proscribed outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and recently he joined Al-Badr outfit in Shopian district. Consequently, he became the chief of the outfit.
“No collateral damage took place during the encounter. Bodies of the terrorists were handed over to their families after completion of the formalities,” the statement added.