An AK-47 and two pistols recovered from the encounter site

Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants, involved in the recent killing of a sarpanch in Khonmoh, were killed in an encounter with security forces on the outskirts of the city here in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said.

The security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Nowgam area early in the morning after receiving specific inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the hiding militants fired upon the forces, who retaliated.

“They have been identified as Adil Teli and Saqib Tantray from Shopian. The third one most probably is Umer Teli. We have called his family for identification. All the three were local terrorists of LeT,” Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, said.

An AK-47 and two pistols were recovered from the encounter site, he said.

The three men were involved in the killing of sarpanch in Khonmoh on March 9, the IGP said, adding that they used to carry out attacks on Panchayati Raj institution members and protected persons.

“Their killing is a huge success for the police. We have busted all the modules involved in the recent killings of sarpanches, CRPF, etc, including a Territorial Army soldier of Budgam.

“Pakistan does not want democratic process or development to continue, so they are targeting panches, sarpanches. But we are giving them a befitting reply. We are identifying them, arresting them or neutralising them in encounters,” Kumar said.

Courtesy: The Tribune India: 16th March , 2022