2 terrorists killed, one surrenders; 5 LeT ultras arrested in bank robbery case
STATE TIMES NEWS
SRINAGAR: An army jawan and two policemen were martyred in Kashmir on Friday while security forces killed two terrorists in an encounter and succeeded in making another ultra to surrender in the apple-rich town of Sopore.
Two police personnel were killed in south Kashmir when terrorists opened firing on the patrol party at Kulgam town this afternoon, resulting in the death of the cops, a police official said.
The martyred cops have been identified as Tanveer Ahmad and Jalaluddin Ahmad, the official added.
According to reports, Constable Shamis-ud-Din, who got seriously injured in the incident, was shifted to a Srinagar hospital for treatment.
A wreath laying ceremony was held in District Police Lines Kulgam where floral tributes were paid to the martyrs. DIG SKR Nitesh Kumar led the civil, police officers and jawans in laying floral wreaths on the bodies of the martyrs which was attended among others by Deputy Commissioner Kulgam Showkat Aijaz Bhat, SSP Kulgam Shridhar Patil, Commanding Officer 18th bn CRPF Hanzang, Jawans, civilians and family members of the martyrs.
An army jawan and two terrorists were killed in an encounter in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district.
The encounter broke out between security forces and terrorists in Naidkhai area of Bandipora after security forces launched a search operation following specific intelligence inputs, an army official said.
He said two terrorists were killed in the encounter, while an army jawan also lost his life.
The identity and group affiliation of the slain terrorists is being ascertained, he said.
In another encounter in Sopore, a local terrorist, who was trapped by security forces, surrendered before the law enforcing agencies.
“Surrender of one local terrorist has been accepted at Tujjar, Sopore,” according to an army spokesperson, who said Army calls for other misguided local youth to shun path of violence.
A search operation was launched in Tujjar village of Sopore after specific intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area, the official said, adding that the ultras fired upon them, triggering an encounter.
This is second incident of surrender by a terrorist in Sopore area this month after being cornered by the security forces. On November 4, Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists had surrendered before the security forces.
Meanwhile, Pulwama Police claimed to have busted an OGW module of LeT outfit by arresting five persons who were involved in the bank robbery at Maloora Chrar-i-Sharief, Budgam.
In a statement police said that on 21 November, unidentified gunmen barged into the Jammu & Kashmir Bank branch Malpora, Chrar-i-Sharief and looted about 14 lakh rupees cash.
They said that based upon specific leads about the incident Pulwama Police zeroed in on one Mohammad Iqbal Wani, resident of Chewa Kalan. “His arrest and disclosures further led to Farooq Ahmad Bhat and Tanvir Alam Wani residents of Chewa Kalan,” police said.
Police said that during questioning, it was found that the trio ran an Over Ground Worker (OGW) module of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terror outfit. “They revealed that conspiracy of robbing the Malpora branch was hatched and masterminded by one, Arif Dar alias Abu Haibat-ul-lah, resident of Lelhar Kakapora, who is an active local terrorist of LeT outfit, along with two other terrorists of foreign origin, identified by their codes, Abu Ali and Abu Ismail. They provided all the support for facilitating the dacoity, including transportation, logistics and conducting of recce etc,” police said.
They said that the group also used the services of Tanvir Bhat and Raqeeb Rather, residents of Chewa Kalan Pulwama.
According to a statement to a local news agency, the police identified the arrested ultras as Mohammad Iqbal Wani, son of Wali Mohammad Wani, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, son of Ghulam Mohi-ud-din Wani, Tanveer-ul-Alam Wani, son of Ghulam Rasool Wani, Tanveer Ahmad Bhat, son of Ghulam Mohammad Bhat and Raqeeb Rather, all residents of Chewa Kalan.
