A senior police officer pays tributes to two policemen during a wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar on Friday. PTI

Ehsan Fazili & Suhail Shah

Tribune Reporters

Srinagar/Anantnag, Nov 25

Two militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and an Army jawan were killed in an encounter in Bandipora district of North Kashmir, while two policemen were killed in an attack by militants in Kulgam district of south Kashmir today.The police said search operations were launched at Manpora village of the Naidkhai area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir this morning on the receipt of information about the presence of militants. When the Army and elite SOG (Special Operations Group) of the police zeroed in, they were fired upon by the hiding militants, resulting in the death of an Army jawan.He has been identified as Naik Chandra Singh of 13 RR and a resident of Uttarakhand. The wreath-laying would be held here tomorrow, an Army spokesman said. The two militants were killed in the retaliatory fire. Their identity is yet to be ascertained.After the encounter was over, protest demonstrations were reported from the adjacent area where people demanded handing over of the bodies of militants to them.In another incident, suspected militants fired at a police station in the Handwara area of Kupwara district last night. Policemen opened retaliatory fire and the militants fled.A suspected militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, identified as Abdul Majeed Mir, was apprehended during a search operation in Sopore town of Baramulla district today.In another major incident today, two policemen were killed and another was critically wounded after militants opened fire on a party of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, some 69 km south of the summer capital, Srinagar.The slain policemen have been identified as Head Constable Tanveer Ahmad and Constable Jalauddin Ahmad. The injured policeman, being treated in Srinagar, has been identified as Shamsuddin Ahmad.All three policemen belonged to 18 Batallion of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP).According to police reports, the attack was carried out by militants in main town Kulgam about 1:30 pm today.“The militants appeared in a car and opened indiscriminate fire at the policemen on duty near the local bus stand,” a senior police official said.The place of attack is less than a 100 ft from the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kulgam.He said the firing left three policemen wounded, who were immediately admitted to the nearby District Hospital.“Two of them succumbed on the way to the hospital while the third has been shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for specialised treatment,” the official said. “His condition remained critical till the last reports were received from the hospital,” he said. The militants, however, escaped unhurt after the firing.Following the attack, the police and Army cordoned off the area and were on a hunt to trace and nab the attackers.Police sources said a vehicle suspected to be used by the militants for the attack had been recovered in the area.A wreath-laying ceremony was held for the slain policemen at the District Police lines in Kulgam. Deputy Inspector General (DIG), south Kashmir range, Niteish Kumar also attended the ceremony.