5 LeT militants killed in J&K; carried out attacks on minorities, say police

“This operation is a big success…these terrorists have been involved in a number of attacks on minorities,” said South Kashmir DIG Rayees Bhat.

In a statement, police said, “During the search operation, as the joint search party approached towards the suspected spot, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon them, which was retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter. However, due to darkness, the operation was kept on hold till early morning. The cordon remained intact throughout the night, and with the help of additional reinforcement, the cordoned area was further strengthened.”

The bodies of the militants killed in the operation were retrieved from the site of encounter and identified. They were Yasir Bilal Bhat, Danish Hameed Thoker, Ubaid Ahmad Padder, Sameer Farooq Sheikh, and Hanzal Yaqoob Shah.

As per police records, the militants were involved in several “terror cases” including attacks on security forces and “civilian atrocities”.

Sameer Farooq and Danish Hameed were involved in an attack on a Kashmiri Pandit man from Chotigam in Shopian, police said. Danish Hameed and Hanzal Yaqoob Shah were also involved in a terror attack on non-local labourers at Gagren, Shopian, on July 13 this year, in which three labourers were injured, they said.

Four AK-series rifles, four grenades and two pistols were recovered from the site of the encounter, the DIG said. In this regard, a case has been registered and further probe is in progress.