Srinagar, January 21

An Army jawan, a special police officer (SPO) were killed and two militants were gunned down on Tuesday in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.

The encounter broke out in the district’s Khrew area when the security forces had launched a cordon and search operation, a police official said.

SPO Shahbaz Ahmad was killed on the spot while the jawan was injured during the gunfight and succumbed to the injuries later, he said.

According to reports, police had a specific input about the presence of militants at Zand village of Tral.

The area was cordoned off and a search operation launched. A contact was eventually established with the militants, who were hiding in a house that led to the firefight.

This is the second major encounter in Kashmir in the past two days.

On Monday, three militants were killed in Shopian, including top Hizbul Mujhahideen commander Wasim, Adil Bashir and Jehangir.

Wasim was involved in the killing of eight people, including four security men in the Valley. —Agencies