Four terrorists killed in separate encounters in J-K's Shopian

Srinagar: Four terrorists, including those involved in the killing of a policeman three days ago, were neutralised in two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian on Wednesday, police said.

Three Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) ultras were killed in Drach Keegam area, while a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was eliminated in Moolu, they said.

About the first encounter, a police spokesperson said security forces launched a cordon and search operation following inputs about the presence of terrorists there.

As the search party proceeded towards the spot, the hiding ultras fired indiscriminately and the police retaliated, leading to the encounter, the spokesperson said.

Three terrorists linked to JeM were killed and their bodies were recovered, he said.

He identified them as Zubair Maqbool Wani, a resident of Doompora Keegam, Jamsheed Ahmad Magray from Rajpora and Hanaan Bin Yaqoob alias Saqib from Kareemabad in Pulwama.

Of these, Magray and Saqib were involved in the murder of Special Police Officer Javed Dar on October 2 at Pinglana area of Pulwama. A CRPF jawan was also injured in the attack on the joint search party that day.

The duo was also behind the killing of a labourer from West Bengal in Gadoora. Besides, Magray had shot at two migrant labourers in Ratnipora, the spokesperson said.

In another encounter at Moolu, also in Shopian, a terrorist identified as Arif Rashid Wani, a resident of Shirmal, was killed.

Liked the three men killed in Drach, Wani was also a categorised terrorist, and he was linked to LeT, the spokesperson said.

Four AK series rifles, a pistol, eight AK magazines, four pistol magazines and other incriminating materials were recovered from both the encounter sites, he added.