Three terrorists belonging to a pro Pakistan terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen were neutralised by the joint teams of security forces in the congested area of Batmaloo in Srinagar early Thursday morning.
Two CRPF personnel, including a Deputy commandant identified as Rahul Mathur leading one of the search parties, received bullet injuries during initial exchange of fire while one civilian woman was also killed in the crossfire. So far 16 terrorists have been neutralised in seven different operations in Srinagar this year.
Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said that all the three terrorists were locals from South Kashmir and were heavily armed.
Since January 1, a total number of 177 terrorists have been neutralised in 72 operations across J&K. Out of these 22 were foreign terrorists from Pakistan.
DGP termed the killing of a 45-year-old kousar Jan in “cross firing” as unfortunate and expressed sympathy with the bereaved family
Addressing a Press conference at Police Control Room (PCR) Srinagar, DGP Singh said, “the operations were launched during wee hours in the Batmaloo area after receiving a tip off about the presence of heavily armed terrorists in the area”.
In a separate statement a police spokesman said, “The killed terrorists have been identified as Zakir Ahmad Paul son of Nisar Ahmad resident of Aloora Imam Sahib Shopian, Ubair Mushtaq Bhat son of Mushtaq Ahmad Bhat resident of Badragund Kulgam and Adil Hussain Bhat son of Abdul Rashid Bhat resident of Batapora Chersoo Awantipora, all affiliated with proscribed terror outfit HM. They were involved in several attacks in Srinagar City and South Kashmir.
Responding to a question related to frequent encounters taking place in and around Srinagar DGP said, “terrorists from other districts of South and north Kashmir keep on visiting Srinagar to carry out attacks on security forces”. “On August 14, they targeted our party and killed two policemen at Nowgam. Before that, they had killed two BSF men at Pandach on city outskirts. And then they made another attempt at Pantha Chowk where we lost a brave SoG man,” the DGP Singh said.
He said police and CRPF teams are alert and whenever they get a lead about presence of terrorists in Srinagar, efforts are always put in to ensure zero collateral damage. “Today’s operation was seventh one in Srinagar in the recent past, but biggest success was the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Junaid Sehrai,” the J&K Police chief said.
Commenting on the role of Pakistan in fomenting trouble in Jammu and Kashmir DGP said, “Pakistan is trying to float new outfits to create confusion while efforts are being made to revive Al-Badr. “We are aware of this and counter programs and strategies are being adopted,” the DGP Singh said, adding that despite huge efforts by terrorists and their handlers across, 20 youth who had tread the wrong path returned back.
