2 LeT Militants Killed In Budgam: Police, Army

Srinagar, Jan 17: Police and army on Tuesday said that two Lashker-e-Toiba militants were killed after they fired upon them near Court Complex in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

“Acting on specific input regarding movement of (militants), a joint Naka of Police and Army’s 62RR was established near Court crossing Budgam,” a police spokesperson said in a statement to GNS, adding, “During area domination, the joint party signalled a suspected vehicle (sumo) bearing registration number JK04B-6771 to stop however, the (militants) onboard jumped from the vehicle and started firing indiscriminately on the joint party which was retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter.”

During the brief shoot-out, he said, two militants of LeT were killed and have been identified as Arbaaz Ahmad Mir of Putrigam Rajpora and Shahid Ahmad Sheikh of Kisrigam Kakapora.

“As per police records, both the (militants) were categorized (militants) and part of groups involved in several cases.”

It is pertinent to mention that both the militants escaped earlier from the recent encounter in Budgam, he said. “They were tasked to carry out some sensational (militant) incident in Budgam district ahead of forthcoming Republic Day,” he said, adding, “Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition including 01 AK-47 rifle, 01 pistol were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.”

In this regard, he said, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and investigation has been initiated.

Meanwhile army in a statement said that movement of militants of LeT was being “continuously tracked for past few days by the intelligence agencies of Army”.

“Based on the confirmed input received regarding move of (militants) in the area of Budgam, a joint mobile vehicle check post was launched by Army & JKP by 0930hr”.

At 0940 hour, army said, a suspected Tata Sumo was intercepted by the Security Forces.

“On being challenged, the (militants) in the vehicle in an attempt to flee, opened indiscriminate fire on the Security Forces. They did so to create chaos by inflicting casualty to Security Forces & civilians in the crowded area,” army statement said, adding, “However, the Security Forces exercised complete restrain and cordoned off the (militants) in the nearby shops, where they had sought shelter.”

The statement said that the security forces dynamically reinforced the area with additional troops and cut all possible escape routes. “While ensuring strict fire control and valuing the civilian life, security forces evacuated the locals to safety,” it said, adding that the militants were later killed in the gunfight. (Source-GNS)