Two militants and one CRPF jawan were killed in an encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police have warned that virtual private networks (VPNs) were being misused by militants in Kashmir after the restoration of 2G mobile service.
“Two terrorists were killed on the Srinagar-Baramulla road after they fired at the police and the CRPF party deployed there. Security forces had prior information about the movement of militants passing through the area,” Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said.
Fired at checkpoint
The incident took place around 11:45 a.m. when militants fired upon a joint checkpoint of the CRPF and the police at Lawaypora on the Srinagar highway. Constable Ramesh Rajan of CRPF’s 73 Battalion died in the exchange of fire. The attackers were believed to have come on a two-wheeler.
Police identified the slain militants as Khateeb Ahmad Dass from Anantnag’s Bijbehara and Zia u Rehman Wani from Budgam’s Aarath areas. “Dass was brother-in-law of slain terrorist Mugees Mir of Parimpora. Affiliated to the Hizbul Mujahideen, Dass had been part of groups involved in carrying out terror attacks in south Kashmir,” the police said.
Another slain militant, Zia u Rehman Wani, was affiliated to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. “Wani was involved in carrying out attacks on guard posts, security deployments and several other grenade attacks since 2018. He also figures in a case pertaining to decamping of weapons from the residential guard post of erstwhile Congress MLC Muzaffar Parray at Jawahar Nagar, Srinagar,” the police said.
Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, was recovered from the terrorists, said the police.
Police said they were ascertaining the identity of the injured person during the cross-fire. Earlier, the DGP said the injured was a militant. However, a family from Srinagar contested the police claim and said he was a civilian and “ran a shop near the encounter site.”
20 killed so far
According to the DGP, 20 militants were killed this year so far in Kashmir. He expressed the hope to “witness a peaceful summer this year.”
He, however, warned that militants were misusing the VPNs, which allowed locals to access social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter etc.
“The driver of the truck [which was involved in the Nagrota toll plaza encounter on January 31] first clicked the photograph of encounter and sent it to Pakistan as an evidence that they have been intercepted. Such use and misuse is happening,” said Mr. Singh.
Coordination among ultras
He said militant modules were now working in coordination with one another to conduct subversive activities and were equipped with latest ammunition and gadgetry.
“We have busted several modules of terrorists last month but the grenade attack at Lal Chowk shows that there are some remnants. We will get them soon,” the DGP added.
