Srinagar: A top Jash-e-Mohammad commander is suspected by police to be among the three militants killed in a gunfight in Kangan area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday. An army soldier was injured during the course of gunfight, official sources said.
Director General of Police Dilbag Singh told GNS that three JeM militants have been killed in the encounter. However, he said, the identity of the slain militants was yet to be ascertained.
A police officer told GNS that a top commander of the outfit, active in south Kashmir for quite some time now, was suspected to br among the slain.
“We are ascertaining the identity and suspected that the foreigner with expertise in IED making and linked to recent attempted bid (averted Pulmawa car bomb) is among the slain,” he said.
Sources said that arms and ammunition were also recovered near the gunfight site even as searches are going on.
Earlier, according to the reports reaching GNS, a joint team of Police, Army’s 53 Rashtriya Rifles and 183 battalion CRPF launched the joint cordon-and-search-operation in Astan Mohalla following specific inputs about the presence of the militants.
As the joint team approached the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired upon them. The fire was retaliated by the joint team, triggering off the encounter eventually leading to the killing of the three militants and injuries to an army soldier. (GNS)