One local militant killed in encounter in J&K's Shopian

Sources have identified the slain militant as Muneeb Ahmed Sheikh, son of Ghulam Qadir Sheikh, resident of Panu Mohalla, Shopian. Muneeb Ahmed Sheikh had taken the path of militancy on March 1 this year.

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): A local militant was killed in an encounter that broke out between militants and the security forces in the Turkwangam area of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, said the police on Friday.

Police said that security forces cordoned off the Turka Wangam area of ​​Shopian on Thursday night after receiving a verified report and launched an operation against the militants. Militants inside the house opened fire indiscriminately, injuring an army officer. Security forces killed a militant inside the house in retaliation. Due to darkness, the operation was suspended till the next morning and the body of a local militant was recovered during the search operation in the early hours of Friday morning.

Sources have identified the slain militant as Muneeb Ahmed Sheikh, son of Ghulam Qadir Sheikh, resident of Panu Mohalla, Shopian. Muneeb Ahmed Sheikh had taken the path of militancy on March 1 this year. As per police records, the killed terrorist was a categorized terrorist and part of groups involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on Police/SFs and civilian atrocities. Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition including a Chinese pistol, 1 magazine, and 5 rounds were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.

In this regard, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and an investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with Police and the encounter site is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials if any.

Meanwhile, police along with 55RR and 182/183Bn CRPF busted a terror module of proscribed terror outfit JeM by arresting three terrorist associates in Pulwama. They have been identified as Owais Altaf, Aqib Manzoor, and Waseem Ahmad Pandit.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested trio was involved in providing logistics and transportation to terrorists in the district. Incriminating materials, arms, and ammunition including one AK rifle, three magazines, 69 AK rounds, and a grenade were recovered on their disclosure. Accordingly, a case vide FIR No. 77/2022 under relevant sections of law stands registered in a Police Station in Pulwama and further investigation into the matter is in progress.