Three terrorists believed to be part of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) group were gunned down by security forces on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, police said, in the second encounter in the district in the last 24 hours.
The joint operation was launched by the Indian Army’s Rashtriya Rifle, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the state police in Kangan Murran village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama on specific information.
Dilbag Singh, J-K’s director general of police, confirmed that three Jaish terrorists were killed in the encounter and that their identities have been ascertained.
Sources said that one of the terrorists killed could be a so-call top commander of Jaish, who has been active in south Kashmir.
Since the last few weeks, police have not been revealing the identities of terrorists killed in encounters and they are being buried away from their native villages. Police said only family members are allowed to participate in the funerals.
On Tuesday, two terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Tral area of Pulwama district.
The terrorists, who sources said were locals, were killed in a gunfight which erupted after a search operation was launched by a joint team of the state police and the army at Saimoh village. Two AK-47 assault rifles were recovered from the encounter site.
On Monday, three heavily-armed terrorists were killed along the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district. They attempted to sneak into India but were intercepted by the alert troops near Kalal village, triggering a gunfight, officials said.
Since the Covid-19 lockdown, 44 terrorists and two associates have been killed in encounters in Jammu and Kashmir.
