Srinagar: A top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) Shamsudin Sofi alias Sham Sofi was killed in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said.
Acting on specific inputs about the presence of militants in Tilwani Mohalla Waggad in the Tral area of Awantipora, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, security forces launched a cordon and search operation there, a police official said.
He said an encounter broke out after the militants opened fire at the security personnel, who retaliated.
In the exchange of fire, a militant was killed, the official said.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the slain terrorist has been identified as Sham Sofi who was a top JeM commander.
“Top JeM Commander #terrorist Sham Sofi killed in Tral #Encounter,” the IGP said on Kashmir Zone Police’s Twitter handle.
A police spokesman said: “As per police records, the killed terrorist was categorized and active since June-2019 figuring among the list of most wanted terrorists operating in the valley. He was also part of groups involved in several terror crime cases including attacks on security establishments and civilian atrocities to which several terror crime cases stands already registered against him”.
The spokesman said that Sofi was first arrested in year 2004 and detained under PSA.
“Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were also recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation. Police has registered a case under relevant sections of law and further investigation is in progress,” said the spokesman.
