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Security forces engaged a group of hiding militants in a gun battle on Thursday in Baramulla in north Kashmir. It is the second such firefight between militants and security forces in the past 24 hours in north Kashmir.
A spokesman of the Jammu and Kashmir Police said an encounter had started at Check Mohalla, Nowpora, in Sopore.
The security forces have not revealed the number of militants hiding in the area.
Earlier, on Wednesday, two soldiers sustained minor injuries in a gunfight with militants hiding in a forest range in Bandipora in north Kashmir. A combing operation continued in the area on Thursday.
The twin encounters in Kashmir have come after a long lull. Earlier, a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist was killed in an encounter with security forces on April 11, which was the first such encounter in three months in the Valley. Kashmir has seen a drastic drop in militant attacks on security forces this year.
In a separate operation, the security forces arrested a “terrorist associate” of the LeT and recovered incriminating materials, arms, ammunition from his possession at Uri in Baramulla. An official spokesman said the operation was carried out in the Kamalkot Mandayan area. “During patrolling, the suspicious movement of one person was observed. The person tried to flee from the spot but an alert patrolling party apprehended him tactfully,” the official said.
The suspect was identified as Farooq Ahmed Khokar, a resident of Kalsi Kamalkot. “During his search, one pistol, two magazines and 20 pistol rounds were recovered. A case under Sections of the UAPA and Arms Act has been registered,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the J&K police attached the properties of four terrorist handlers, who were declared as proclaimed offenders by the court.
“These absconders or proclaimed offenders have exfiltrated to Pakistan or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Since then, they are continuously involved in handling terrorists, and reviving and spreading terrorism in Handwara and other areas of Jammu and Kashmir,” the police said.
The police said it attached 10 marlas at Kralgund belonging to Mumtaz Ahmad Khwaja; two plots measuring a little over 16 marlas belonging to Lateef Ahmad Bhat; three plots measuring 1 kanal and 2 marlas belonging to Mushtaq Ahmad Mir Son and four plots measuring 1 kanal belonging to Ghulam Rasool Ganai.
“These terrorists are also involved in different cases of the police district of Handwara and are actively trying to revive and run the terror ecosystem in Jammu and Kashmir,” a police official said.
Besides these four, 51 persons from J&K, who have exfiltrated to Pakistan or PoK, for illegal arms training and are operating from there have also been declared as proclaimed offenders. Action is also being contemplated against them under law, said the police.
