Srinagar: Three militants including a top commander of LeT militant outfit were killed in Baramulla district in north Kashmir on Monday, while three security personnel were also killed in the attack that took place barely an hour before the gunfight.
The operation against the militants is still on and two more army men have been injured, of which one is critical, a police spokesman said in a statement.
Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police, Dilbagh Singh said that militants attacked a naka party of CRPF and police on Monday morning at Kreeri village of Baramulla in north Kashmir killing two paramilitary CRPF men and an SPO of police.
The slain were identified as Lokas Sharma and driver Khursheed Khan of 119 battalion of CRPF and an SPO of J&K police identified as Muzaffar Ahmad resident of Pattan. The DGP said in a press conference in Srinagar after the attack security forces cordoned off the militants who attacked the naka party and killed them.
One of the militants killed has been identified as Sajad Ahmad Mir alias Haider of Brath Kalan, Sopore, who was operating on the lines of Burhaan Wani to recruit local boys into militancy. Another militant has been identified as Inayatullah of Andergam, Pattan, who had joined in March, while the third has been identified as Usman, a foreign militant, the DGP said.
“Sajad Hadiar was among top ten militant commanders in Jammu and Kashmir. He was active since 2016 and had recruited 20 youth in the militant ranks including Inayatullah in March this year, another militant killed in today’s operation. He had a very long criminal record in north Kashmir, creating fear and threatening people,” Singh said. “Sajad operated just the way Burhan Wani (HM commander killed in 2016) operated in south Kashmir,” Singh said.
On the encounter happening immediately after the attack, the DGP said that as the militants ran after the attack, one CRPF personnel was successful in shooting and injuring one of the militants and his blood trail was followed by sniffer dogs which led to the spot where the militants were hiding. “The injured militant has changed his clothes and thrown away eatable items during the run, but the sniffer dog squad traced them which led to an encounter in which three militants were killed,” he said.
This was the second big attack on the security forces in the Valley in just four days. On August 14, militants attacked security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar, killing two policemen and injuring one.
