Four militants killed, CRPF man on leave shot in Kashmir

Four militants, including a top Jaish-e-Muhammad commander, were killed in three separate encounters across Kashmir in the last 24 hours, while militants killed a CRPF jawan, who was on leave, at his home in Shopian on Saturday evening.

The encounters come at a time when three panchayat members were killed by militants in Kulgam and Khonmoh areas in the last 10 days. On Saturday, another sarpanch managed to escape after militants opened fire while he was inspecting a construction site along with government officials in Pulwama district of southern Kashmir. Vijay Kumar, Inspector General of Police in Kashmir, said that the sarpanchs and panchs facing security threats have been shifted to secure accommodation in Srinagar and other district headquarters.

Police said several operations were launched simultaneously in southern, central and northern Kashmir on Friday. They said one of the encounters took place in Chewakalan area of Pulwama where two militants, including a top Jaish commander Khalid Bhai - who has been active since 2018 - was killed.


Police said one militant was arrested from the encounter spot.

Another encounter took place in the Ganderbal area of central Kashmir, where one militant belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed.

In the Rajwar area of Handwara in northern Kashmir, police said they had killed one recently recruited LeT militant, Suhail Gulzar.

On March 10, police said they had killed one Pakistani militant in the Hazratbal area of Srinagar, while two others managed to escape.

"These days, one Pakistani terrorist moves around with two local terrorists, and they are desperately trying to create law and order situations especially by misusing religious places," Kumar told reporters.