2 militants killed, 1 soldier martyred in 30-hour-long Shopian encounter

Srinagar: Two militants were killed and a soldier was martyred in about 30-hour-long encounter in south Kashmir district of Shopian.

Official sources said that with the first light on Saturday morning security forces resumed Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) at village Pandushan, Shopian, where a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant and a soldier were killed last night.

They said contact was again established with a militant, who fired at security forces. ''The security forces retaliated and in the exchange of fire the militant was killed,'' they added.

They said the slain militant has been identified as Manzoor Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Wachi. ''The killed militant as per police records was affiliated with proscribed militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and was wanted by law for his complicity in series of militant activities, including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,'' they said.

According to the police records, he said Bhat was part of group involved in planning and executing series of attacks in the area. 

Sources said on a tip off about the presence of militants, troops of Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police and CRPF launched a joint search operation at village Pandushan, Shopian in the wee hours of Friday.

However, when the troops were moving towards a particular party in the village, militants hiding there, opened indiscriminate firing with automatic weapons, they said, adding in the initial encounter two soldiers were injured Sepoy Rambir and Sepoy Deepak.

The injured were rushed to hospital where one of them identified as Rambir succumbed, sources said.

A police spokesman said a militant who was killed last night, was identified as Zeenatul Islam, a local resident. ''He was affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM),'' the spokesman added.

''Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, were recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes,'' they said.

''People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials if any,'' they added.(UNI)