Cop's killer among 2 Jaish terrorists gunned down in Pulwama encounter

Security forces shot dead two Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in an overnight encounter in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said on Monday.

One of the slain terrorists was involved in the killing of police constable Reyaz Ahmad earlier this month, a police spokesman said.

He said that on a specific input generated by the Kulgam police regarding the presence of terrorists in village Gundipora of Pulwama, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by the security forces.

"During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the suspected spot, the terrorists hiding in the residential house of Nazir Ahmad Mir fired indiscriminately upon the search party, which retaliated leading to an encounter," he said.

The spokesman said that to avoid any collateral damage due to darkness, the operation was suspended during the night hours and was resumed in the wee hours.

"In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists, identified as Abid Hussain Shah and Saqib Azad Sofi, were killed. They were affiliated with the proscribed terror outfit JeM," he added.

According to police records, the spokesman said both the slain men were categorised as terrorists and part of groups involved in several terror crime cases, including attacks on police and civilian atrocities.

"Pertinently, the killed terrorist Abid Shah was involved in the recent killing of unarmed policeman constable Reyaz Ahmad at his residential house at Gadoora area of Pulwama on May 13, 2022," he added.

Inspector general of police of Kashmir Vijay Kumar congratulated the forces for carrying out the anti-terrorist operation in a professional manner without any collateral damage.

He also appreciated the joint team for tracking and neutralising the terrorists involved in the recent killing of a policeman in Pulwama.

While interacting with the media, Kumar said the police have succeeded to a large extent to prevent the youth from taking up arms and are working on multi-dimensional fronts to prevent local terrorist recruitment, and those who motivate and lure young boys towards terrorism are being booked under the Public Safety Act.

"We are also tracking new recruits through technical surveillance and bringing them back," the IGP said.