Jehangeer Ganai
Shopian, Apr 1: A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant was killed in an encounter at Turkwangam area of Southern district of Shopian on Friday, police said.
A police official said that based on a specific input generated by police regarding presence of militants in Turkwangam area of Shopian, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police along with 44RR & 178Bn CRPF in the area late on Thursday evening.
“During the search operation, as the search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the hiding militant fired indiscriminately upon the search party which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter,” the official said, adding that “In the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter. He has been identified as Muneeb Ahmad Sheikh son of Shah Mohd Sheikh, resident of Tak Mohalla Shopian, affiliated with LeT.”
A police spokesman in a statement said that as per police records the killed militant was a categorized militant and part of groups involved in several crime cases including attacks on Police/SFs and civilian atrocities.
“Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including a Chinese pistol, 01 magazine and 5 rounds were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation,” the police spokesman said.
