Two terrorists killed in Anantnag encounter

SRINAGAR: Anantnag Police killed two Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind terrorists in a brief firefight at Thajiwara, in the south Kashmir district’s Bijbehara area, on Wednesday. Hours later, two hybrid terrorists affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba were arrested with a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Shopian district, also in south Kashmir.

The slain terrorists were identified as Fayaz Ahmad Kumar alias Faheem Kumar, and Owais Ahmad Khan, both from Bijbehara’s Waghama area, ADGP (Kashmir Zone) Vijay Kumar said while lauding Anantnag Police for carrying out a swift encounter sans collateral damage.

As per police records, the duo was part of several terror crimes including an attack on police personnel at Cheeniwooder Srigufwara on July 3 in which a cop, Firdous Ahmad Dar, was severely injured. They were part of a similar attack in Bijbehara’s Darashikon Park on August 12, another policeman, Ghulam Qadir, was left with grievous bullet wounds. The two were also involved in grenade-lobbing cases at Padshahibagh on June 15 and Sangam Chowk on August 22, said the ADGP.

Arms, ammunition and other incriminating items were seized from the site of the encounter and taken into case records. Police registered a case under relevant sections of the law and initiated a probe.

Later in the day, Shopian Police arrested two hybrid terrorists — identified as Faizan Fayaz Bhat of Budden Rafiabad, Sopore, and Yawar Nizam Mir of Konsoo, Shopian — and seized two pistols, two pistol magazines, two grenades, 20 pistol rounds, one AK-47 magazine and 50 live AK rounds from them, the ADGP said.