LeT terrorist involved in cops' murder among 3 killed; 5 terrorists neutralised in 24 hours

Srinagar, Jun 12 (PTI) Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Adil Parray, who was wanted in recent killings of two police personnel, was killed in a "chance" encounter with police here, taking the number of militants killed in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday to three.

On Sunday morning, two LeT militants were killed in the Pulwama encounter. In the past 24 hours, a total of five militants have been killed in three separate encounters, officials said.

Police said Parray was planning an attack on Amarnath yatra this year.

Based on an input regarding movement of a terrorist at Kreshbal Palpora area, in the outskirts of Srinagar, a “special small team” of Srinagar police was deputed for search, a police spokesman said.

During the searches, the hidden terrorist fired upon the police team which was retaliated leading to a brief chance encounter, he said.

In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist, identified as Adil Parray alias Abu Bakr, of Ganderbal was killed, the spokesman said.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the Parray was a categorised terrorist linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT.

Parray, along with Abid Khan, had joined terror ranks in September 2021. Both were involved in terror attacks on civilians and outsiders in downtown area of Srinagar last year in 2021. However, Khan was neutralised in an encounter in March 2022 in Ganderbal, but Parray continued his terror activities, the IGP said.

He said Parray was planning terror attack on Amarnath yatra scheduled to begin on June 30.

As per police records, Parray was involved in the recent killings of two J&K Police personnel -- Constable Ghulam Hassan Dar near Ali Jan Road Zoonimar area of Srinagar on May 7 and SgCt Saifullah Qadri at Anchar Soura May 24, the spokesman said.

Besides, a nine-year-old daughter of Saifulla Qadri was also injured in Soura here, and since then we were tracking him, the IGP said.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes, the spokesman said. Parray's killing took the number of terrorists killed in the last 24 hours to five and the number of ultras killed in the valley so far this year to 100.

On Saturday, a Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist identified as Rasiq Ahmed Ganie, resident of Shouch Kulgam, was killed in Kulgam, while another was killed in Pulwama.

On Sunday morning, two more militants were killed in the Pulwama encounter.

The police spokesperson said acting on specific information regarding the presence of terrorists in Pulwama's Drabgam village, a cordon-and-search operation was launched by the security forces in the area on Saturday.

As the security personnel approached the suspected spot, the terrorists hiding there fired indiscriminately at them, which was retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter, he added.

In the ensuing gunbattle, three local terrorists of proscribed outfit LeT were killed and their bodies retrieved from the site of the encounter, the spokesperson said.

He identified the slain terrorists as Junaid Ahmad Sheergojri of Gadoora in Pulwama, Fazil Nazir Bhat of Drabgam in Pulwama and Irfan Ahmad Malik of Arabal Nikas in Pulwama.

According to police records, all three were part of groups involved in several terror crime cases, including attacks on police and other security forces and civilian atrocities, the spokesperson said.

Sheergojri, along with his associate Abid Hussain Shah of Monghama in Pulwama, who was killed on May 30, was involved in the killing of policeman Reyaz Ahmad at his house on May 13, he added.

"He was also involved in the June 2 attack on labourers at a brick kiln in Chadoora on the outskirts of the Pulwama-Budgam axis, in which one labourer was killed and others were injured," the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, IGP Kumar congratulated the security forces for carrying out the anti-terrorist operation in a professional manner and without any collateral damage.

He also lauded them for tracking and neutralising the terrorists involved in the recent killing of police personnel in Pulwama.

Earlier, the IGP said 99 terrorists were killed in the valley so far this year. With Parray's killing, the number has gone up to 100.