Two Lashkar terrorists shot in Srinagar

Srinagar, April 10

Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed and three security personnel injured in a gunfight in Srinagar on Sunday.

Acting on a specific input about the presence of militants in Bhishembar Nagar locality of Srinagar, security personnel launched a cordon-and-search operation to nab them. A police spokesman said the two Pakistani terrorists were of the proscribed terror outfit LeT, who were involved in an attack on CRPF personnel at Maisuma area recently, killing a jawan and injuring another.

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• Meanwhile, Lt Gen Devendra Pratap Pandey, GoC, XV Corps, said 216 ultras had been killed or had surrendered since January last year. oc

As the joint search party proceeded towards the suspect spot, the militants fired indiscriminately, leading to an encounter. In the initial exchange of fire, a militant was killed. In view of the tourist movement and a huge rush in the area, the police and CRPF men exercised maximum restraint and carried out operation in a professional manner to avoid any civilian casualty, the police said.

During evacuation of civilians, the trapped militant hurled a grenade resulting in minor splinter injuries to three security men who were shifted to a hospital.

Later, the second militant was also gunned down.

The police said the slain militants had been identified as Mohammad Bhai, alias Abu Qasim, and Abu Arsalan, alias Khalid, both of Pakistan. As per police records, both the slain militants were ‘A’ categorised and linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT.

Mohammad Bhai had been active since 2019 while Abu Arsalan joined the militant group last year in central Kashmir. They had a history of terror crime cases, the police said. Kashmir IG Vijay Kumar congratulated the police and the CRPF for conducting the operation in a professional manner.

Kumar said the operation was one of the best examples of how investigation of a terror crime case leads to an anti-terrorist operation. This is surely a big success for the Srinagar police, he said, adding that militants involved in the killing of civilians, security forces or any other crimes would be tracked down and neutralised on priority.

Three jawans hurt

During the encounter, a militant threw a grenade towards security men, injuring three. They have been admitted to the Army’s 92 base hospital.