Top commander, 4 LeT militants killed in Kashmir

Srinagar, Apr 14: Four militants, including a top commander of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan, were killed in the Kashmir valley overnight, a police spokesman said.

A senior police officer said troops of 62 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police launched a joint search operation at village Wayil Nowgam, Shopian in south Kashmir after receiving information about the presence of some militants in the house of one Ghulam Qadir.

He said when the security forces were about to storm the particular house after sealing the entire area, militants opened fire. The fire was returned and in the fierce clash, two LeT militants were killed. One soldier was also injured in the clash, he said.

The slain militants were identified as Altaf Ahmad Malik alias Pinto Malik a self-styled district commander and Sheraz Ahmad Mir alias Abu Serya alias Imran alias Doctor.

Pinto was also an ''A'' category militant who had escaped from Pulwama court complex some months ago.

Two AK 47 rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants. The house from where the militants were firing on security forces was damaged in the encounter.

However, the local people alleged that security forces used mortars to kill the militants in the house.

Besides, militants shot at and wounded a CRPF jawan Rajinder Kumar of 164 batallion near the shrine of Sheikh Dawood at Batmaloo last evening. He was shifted to hospital where he died.

In another incident, security forces killed two militants in an encounter at Doda in Jammu region last evening.

UNI