Srinagar: Two terrorists, including a top “commander” of Lashkar-e-Taiba offshoot TRF who was involved in several cases of killing of policemen and civilians, were eliminated by security forces in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Tuesday, officials said.
One of the slain terrorists has been identified as Basit Dar, an “A” category terrorist who belonged to The Resistance Front (TRF), according to Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, V K Birdhi.
“He was an A-category terrorist carrying a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head from the NIA with separate reward from the Police. Basit was active since 2021. He was involved in over 18 cases including attacks on security forces and minority members in Srinagar and South Kashmir,” the IGP said. Later talking to KNO, IGP identified second terrorist as Faheem, a hybrid terrorist cum Over Ground Worker (OGW).
He said that the operation concluded this afternoon but the search operation to clear the debris from explosives was still going on. The IGP said that police will not allow anyone to disrupt the peaceful atmosphere and election festivity in Kashmir. “We are alert and ready to foil all nefarious attempts,” he said.
He said security forces got inputs about the movement of terrorists in Redwani village following which a cordon and search operation was launched there on Monday night.
“There was firing from the other side,” he told reporters in Kulgam.
Birdhi said the terrorists were given an opportunity to surrender, but they continued their 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,” he said.
Describing Dar’s killing as a significant achievement, Birdhi said he was involved in 18 cases including in Srinagar city.
“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 added.
In 2022, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) announced a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on Dar.
