One of the most wanted terrorist, Mudasir Pandit, and a Pakistani ultra were among the three terrorist killed in an overnight encounter with security forces in the Sopore area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, police said on Monday.
Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbag Singh said all the three dead terrorists were top commanders of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) outfit.
The operation was very important for the police and other security forces as the terrorists were involved in several attacks and killings, he added.
These include two major attacks in Sopore -- one on March 29 in which two municipal councillors and a policeman were killed and another on June 12 in which two policemen and an equal number of civilians were killed.
The encounter broke out late on Sunday night as the security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation following information about the presence of at least three militants, including Pandit, in the area.
"The operation was very important for the police and security forces. In the encounter, three dreaded terrorist commanders, who were active for a long time and were involved in several terror crimes, were killed," Singh told reporters at a press conference in Srinagar.
He identified one of the terrorists as Mudasir Pandit alias Umer alias Mass Bhai, who was the LeT commander of the area since June 19.
"There are 18 FIRs against him and he was involved in the killing of nine security forces' personnel, four civilians, two former terrorists, three sarpanches and two separatists," the DGP said.
He said the other terrorists were a Pakistani national named Abdullah alias Asrar, who was working with Pandit for long, and Khursheed Mir of Sopore against whom there were six first information reports and who was involved in the killing of seven security forces' personnel and five civilians, besides two grenade attacks.
"The group was also involved in two major attacks in Sopore -- the first one on March 29 in which two municipal councillors and a policeman were killed and another on June 12 in which two policemen and two civilians were killed in the main market area," the DGP said.
Inspector general of police (IGP), Kashmir Vijay Kumar said the slain militants were hiding in a house that belonged to the family of another terrorist.
"I urge the militant families not to give shelter to active militants. Then they blame the police for misbehaving with them.... The families of militants should refrain from providing food and shelter to active militants," he said.
The IGP said there was a huge support from the locals in tracking the terrorists.
"We had circulated posters with the images of all three wanted militant commanders. The police tracked them down to their exact location, but the locals supported us. I thank the locals for the huge support," he said.
General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Army's Kilo Force Major General H S Sahi said a soldier was injured in the operation and he was evacuated to a hospital where his condition is stated to be stable.
He said this was the second such instance in the valley in recent times where local militants were found to be accompanied by Pakistani ultras.
"This is a big network nexus that exists, which is a cause of concern. This nexus needs to be broken and destroyed so that there is no hurdle in the peace and development of Jammu and Kashmir," Maj Gen Sahi said.
He appealed to the civil society and the people of Kashmir to cooperate with the security forces to break this network.
"This network wants to continue the cycle of violence. We have been saying that this cycle of violence needs to be destroyed," he said, adding that the support to this network should stop so that the lives of innocent Kashmiris are saved.
Maj Gen Sahi also appealed to the local militants to give up their arms and join the national mainstream.
"If they do not, then I assure you that they will meet the similar fate as that of the slain militants in the Sopore gunfight," he said.
