HT Correspondent

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

Srinagar : Two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Bijbehara on Friday night, police said.

The militants, identified as Naveed Bhat alias Furqan of Qaimoh and Aaqib Yaseen Bhat of Qaimoh, were killed in Gund Baba Khalil, Sanga. Police recovered an AK 47 rifle and pistol from them.Director general of police Dilbag Singh said, “The militants killed in the encounter were affiliated with LeT. They were involved in seven cases. Both joined the militant ranks in the last two years.”

Police also arrested Hizbul Mujahideen commander Junaid Farooq Pandit of Hamray: “He was tasked with carrying out selective killings. A pistol was recovered from him.”

On Wednesday, three Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a commander, were killed in a gunfight with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The slain militants — Jehangir Wani, Raja Maqbool and Sadat — were all locals. Wani and Maqbool were residents of Tral while Sadat was from Bijbehara, Anantnag.

On February 5, two militants of HM and LeT were killed at Lawaypora on city outskirts in a shootout with security forces, in which a CRPF man was killed.

The J&K DGP said there were 12 successful anti-militancy operations in J&K in 2020, of which 10 took place in Kashmir:“In both these places, 25 terrorists were neutralised – 21 in Kashmir and four in Jammu,” he said, adding that 240 to 250 militants are active in Kashmir. “The number of listed militants has come down.” He also said three militants had infiltrated the country this year and one of the militants was recently killed in Tral.Apart from the encounters, he said, many terror modules were also busted such as the arrest of three boys involved in the Pratap Park grenade attack, a group of grenade throwers in Sherigadi and the arrest of five persons affiliated with JeM in Srinagar.He said the police had also hit the ‘support structure of militants’ by arresting many ‘overground workers(OWGs)’: “Around 40 OGWs have been arrested. Many youngsters leave home to join terrorists. We have brought eight such youth back to their families.”