Soldier, four ultras gunned down in J&K

Srinagar, October 20

Security forces on Wednesday eliminated four militants, including two commanders of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), who were involved in the killing of migrant labourers in J&K, the police said.

While two ultras were killed in the encounter at Dragad in Shopian, two others were eliminated in a gun battle in Kulgam district, a police official said, adding that so far 15 terrorists have been killed in two weeks. One soldier lost his life while two others sustained injuries in the Shopian operation.

“Police and Army neutralised LeT district commander (Gulzar Ahmad Reshi) of Kulgam and one other. They were involved in killing of two poor labourers from Bihar on October 17 at Wanpoh,” IGP Kashmir zone Vijay Kumar said in a tweet.

According to a defence spokesman, a joint operation was launched on Wednesday evening after information was received about the movement of two terrorists along the Ashmuji-Devsar stretch in Kulgam district. “The area was cordoned off and contact established about 07.40 pm. Repeated surrender appeals were turned down by terrorists,” the spokesman said.

“In the ensuing firefight, two terrorists have been neutralised. An AK rifle and other warlike stores have been recovered,” he added.

Earlier in the day, security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Dragad area of Shopian district following information about the presence of militants there, the officials said.

The officials said two ultras of The Resistance Front (TRF), a shadow outfit of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, were killed.

Three security force personnel also sustained injuries in the operation. One of the injured soldiers later succumbed to injuries at a hospital here, the officials said.

One of the slain ultras was identified as Adil Wani, who had joined militant ranks in July 2020. — PTI