Three TRF militants were gunned down in an encounter with security forces in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, J&K Police said on Wednesday. Among the dead is Lateef Rather, who was responsible for killing migrant employee Rahul Bhat and television artiste Amreen Bhat, the police added.
The Resistance Force (TRF) is an offshoot of proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-Taiba (LeT).
Army and the police had launched a joint operation late on Tuesday after getting inputs about militant presence at Waterhail village, about 10km from Budgam town.
ADGP Vijay Kumar confirmed that three militants were killed in the operation.
“All the three hiding LeT #terrorists #neutralised. Bodies being retrieved from the site, identity yet to be ascertained. #Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition recovered. A big success for us,” ADGP Kashmir tweeted.
Kumar said Lateef Rather alias Abdullah, killer of Rahul and Amreen, was among the three killed terrorists.
“He (Lateef) was involved in several terror crime cases, including civilian killings and atrocities,” he added.
Earlier in the morning, ADGP Kumar had said that a group of TRF militants was trapped in the village, which was responsible for the killing of civilians in Budgam.
Locals said the militants had taken shelter in an isolated house surrounded by dense bushes and trees.
It may be noted that on July 31, a militant was killed at Binner village on the outskirts of the Baramulla town.
On July 30, another militant was shot dead and three security personnel, including two army jawans, were injured in a gunfight in Baramulla. A sniffer dog of the forces was also killed in the operation.
Prior to that, two encounters in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on July 23 and 27 at Rampora and Brayihard Kathpora had ended without any fatality from the militants’ side. The militants had reportedly escaped.
On July 17, militants had killed an assistant sub-inspector of CRPF, Vinod Kumar, after firing on security personnel at a checkpoint at Gangoo crossing in south Kashmir’s Pulwama.
Five days before that on July 12, an ASI of the J&K Police, Mushtaq Ahmad, was killed when militants fired upon a police party at Lal Bazazr area of Srinagar city.
On July 11, top Jaish-e-Mohammed commander Kaiser Koka was among two militants eliminated in an encounter with security forces in Pulwama district.
The police had said that Koka was a categorised terrorist involved in several terror crimes, including attacks on cops and other security forces personnel besides civilian atrocities.
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