Srinagar, May 07: Two terrorists, including a ‘commander’ of The Resistance Front (TRF), were killed in an encounter with security forces in RedwaniPayeen area of South Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said.
The security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in Kulgam’sRedwani village late on Monday night following information about the presence of terrorists in the area.
Talking to reporters, Inspector General of Police Vidhi Kumar Birdi said Police and security forces, along with Army and CRPF had cordoned off the area. The operation continued throughout the night and concluded today afternoon. Two terrorists including the top commander were neutralized in this operation and their bodies have been retrieved,” he said.
IGP Birdi said that one of the terrorists belonged to the TRF ‘A’ category. “One of them Basit Dar belonged to TRF ‘A’ category, he was involved in more than 18 cases. He was behind the planning conspiracy to attack minorities, police forces and civilians, he said.
“He was an A category terrorist carrying a bounty of Rs 10,000 lakh on his head. Basit has been active since 2021. The reward money was announced by NIA in case 32/2021/NIA/DLI registered against Da, resident ofRedwaniPayeen, Kulgam.”
The Police Chief said that the operation concluded on Tuesday afternoon but the search operation to clear the debris from explosives was still going on. The identity of the second slain terrorist was being ascertained, he said.
According to officials, the house in which the terrorists were hiding caught fire on Tuesday morning during the exchange of fire between the two sides.
He said they were given ample time and opportunity to surrender. They did not pay any heed to the caution by police and security forces. The terrorists continued firing upon the security personnel and were killed in the encounter,” he said.
