STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including the one allegedly involved in the recent killing of a bank manager, were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district on Wednesday, police said.
Acting on specific information regarding the presence of terrorists in Shopian’s Kanji Ullar village, a cordon-and-search operation was launched by the security forces in the area, according to a police spokesperson.
During the search operation, as the forces approached the suspected spot, the terrorists fired indiscriminately on them, which was retaliated effectively, the spokesperson said.
In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the encounter site. They were identified as Jan Mohammad Lone, a resident of Braripora in Shopian, and Tufail Nazir Ganie, a resident of Ramnagri in Shopian, the spokesperson said.
He added that according to police records, the slain ultras were linked with proscribed outfit LeT and were part of groups involved in several terror crime cases, including attacks on police and other security forces and civilian atrocities.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar said Lone was involved in the killing of bank manager Vijay Kumar in Kulgam on June 2. He also revealed that Lone was earlier working as an overground worker (OGW) for LeT district commander Adil Ramzan and had killed the bank manager on the latter’s directions.
“After this terror crime, he actively joined the terror ranks and we have been tracking him ever since. Ganie had earlier escaped from two encounters in Kulgam’s Chaki Samad area on April 9 and Khur-Batpora area on April 11,” Kumar said.
Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition, including an AK-47 rifle and a pistol, were recovered from the encounter site. All the recovered materials have been taken into the case records for further investigation, the spokesperson said.
He said Kumar congratulated the joint teams for carrying out the anti-terrorist operation in a professional manner and without any collateral damage. He also appreciated the efforts of the police in tracking down and neutralising the terrorist involved in the bank manager’s killing.
A police spokesperson revealed that Jan Mohd was earlier working as OGW of LeT’s district commander Adil Ramzan and he killed a Bank manager on the direction of said LeT commander. After this terror crime he actively joined terror rank.