Two local militants killed in Kulgam

KULGAM — Two militants were killed in an overnight encounter in a village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday.

Police said that that based on a specific input generated by Kulgam Police regarding the presence of militants in village Hassanpora situated on the border between Kulgam and Anantnag, a joint cordon and search operation was launched yesterday evening by Police and 1st RR in the said area.

During the search operation, as the joint search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter.

In the ensuing encounter, two militants of proscribed militant outfit Al-Badr were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter. They have been identified as Imad Muzaffar Wani, resident of Arigam Pulwama and Abdul Rashid Thoker, resident of Hassanpora.

As per police records, both the slain were categorized ‘terrorists’. They were part of groups involved in several militant activities including attacks on security forces.

Besides, Imad Wani was involved in an attack on policeman Mushtaq Ahmad Wagay of Pulwama in December last year, in which the said police personnel got seriously injured. While as, slain militant Abdul Rashid Thoker, before joining militant ranks, was working as militant associate and was also involved in an attack on a civilian at Chitragam in which the said civilian got injured.

Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.