Two unidentified militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces during an anti-militancy operation near here on Saturday.
A police spokesman said the the operation was launched “on a specific input regarding the presence of terrorists at Ranbirgarh-Panzinara village”.
“The hiding militants were given the opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party. Two unidentified terrorists were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter,” the police said.
However, the identification and affiliation of the killed terrorists is being ascertained, the police added. One AK-47 and a pistol were recovered from the encounter site, the Army said in a statement.
“The bodies shall be sent to Ganderbal for their last rites. In case any family claims the killed terrorists to be their kith or kin, they can come forward for their identification and participation in the last rites at Ganderbal,” the police said.
People said both the militants were locals. Preliminary reports suggest they belonged to the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Student held
A Kashmir University (KU) student, Aaqib Malik, was arrested on Friday in connection with an FIR registered in 2018 under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
“Malik was arrested on Friday. He was also arrested earlier,” a family member told The Hindu.
According to the family, the police accused Mr. Malik, a postgraduate, of “anti-India activities on the campus of the KU”.
In a separate case, the police said he helped in the return of a terrorist, a week after joining the Al-Badr outfit, in the Awantipora belt of Pulwama.
In a separate operation at Tral in Pulwama, a militant hideout was busted in the forest area of Chinphadi, Machama area.
“It was a Jaish-e-Muhammad hideout. Incriminating materials were recovered from the hideout,” the police said
