SRINAGAR: Three militants killed in a gunfight with the counter-insurgent forces in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district were affiliated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), police said.
A police spokesman in a statement said on a specific input generated by Sopore Police regarding the presence of militants in village Rebban area of Sopore, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by JKP, 22RR and CRPF in the said area.
“During the search operation as the presence of militants got ascertained they were given the opportunity to surrender, however they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter,” said the spokesman.
“In the ensuing encounter, three militants affiliated with proscribed outfit LeT were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. Two of the slain were foreigners and have been identified as Abu Rafia alias Usman and Saifullah both resident of Pakistan. Abu Rafia alias Usman was active in the valley since the year 2016. They were involved in many incidents including the recent Sopore incident on 1/7/2020 in which one CRPF man was martyred and one civilian was killed. However, the identification of third slain militants being ascertained. IGP Kashmir Shri Vijay Kumar-IPS congratulated teams of JKP, Army and CRPF for this big success,” he said.
“Arms and ammunition including 3 Ak-47 rifles and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of encounter. Also, the search is in progress,” he added.
“In this connection, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered in Police Station Sopore and investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials if any,” said police spokesman in a statement.
