Security forces on Tuesday killed two terrorists, including a top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot The Resistance Front (TRF), in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district, some 70 kilometers from Srinagar.
Police said the slain terrorists were involved in several cases, including the killings of policemen and civilians. One of the slain terrorists has been identified as Basit Dar, an “A” category terrorist who belonged to The Resistance Front, VK Birdhi, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, said.
Birdhi said that security forces got inputs about the movement of terrorists in Redwani village, following which a cordon and search operation was launched on Monday night. The operation was jointly launched by the Indian Army and the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) Police on the intervening night of May 6-7.
“On specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a Joint operation was launched by #Indian Army & @JmuKmrPolice on the intervening night of 06-07 May in general area Redwani Payeen, Kulgam, resulting in an intense firefight,” Indian Army’s Chinar Corps said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Birdhi said that the terrorists were given an opportunity to surrender, but they continued firing on the security personnel. “Two terrorists have been killed in this operation, and their bodies have been retrieved, but the search operation is going on.”
Images from the area showed smoke billowing from a house after it caught fire during the gunfight.
According to the senior police official, Basit Dar was involved in 18 cases, including in the capital city, Srinagar. “He was involved in the killing of police personnel and innocent civilians. He was involved in planning and carrying out attacks, including on minority community members,” the IGP said.
In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a bounty of 10 lakh on Dar.
