Hizbul militant among two killed in J-K encounter

Srinagar: A Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militant, who had gone to Pakistan for arms training and returned last week, was among the two ultras killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian on Saturday, police said on Sunday.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the encounter in Wangam area of South Kashmir's Shopian, which began on Saturday evening, was over with the killing of two militants belonging to HM and Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT).

Two deadly terrorists have been killed in the operation. One of them Inatullah Sheikh, a resident of Shopian, was active since 2018 and had gone to Pakistan that year for arms training. He returned last week only. He was with HM, the IGP said here.

Kumar said the other militant Adil Malik, resident of Anantnag, belonged to LeT.

One AK-47 rifle, one M4 rifle and a pistol has been recovered from the encounter site, he said, adding, so far this year, security forces have recovered two M4 rifles from the militants.

The IGP said it was more likely that Sheikh had brought the M4 rifle with him from Pakistan.

An Army trooper identified as Havildar Pinku Kumar was also killed in the gunfight, while another soldier was injured.

The injured soldier was taken to the Army's 92 Base Hospital here and his condition is stated to be stable.