Civilian killed in ‘accidental’ firing in Pulwama, cop arrested
STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Four terrorists, including those involved in the killing of a policeman three days ago, were neutralised in two encounters in 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 martyrdom 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, adding that he was involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on the police, security forces and civilian atrocities.
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.
Meanwhile, rifle of on-duty police personnel went off accidently at Haal area of Pulwama, resulting in injuries to a person identified as Mohammad Asif Padroo son of Mohd Ayub Padroo resident of Poterwaal Shopian. The injured person was immediately evacuated to the hospital by police where he succumbed to his injuries.
Quoting officials, a national news agency reported that the cop has been arrested.
