Three JeM militants killed in overnight Budgam encounter

Budgam, January 08, 2021: Three Jaish-e-Muhammad militants were killed and an army officer was injured in an overnight encounter between security forces and militants in Zalowa area of Chadoora in Central Kashmir’s Budgam district, police said on Friday.

A senior police officer told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), acting on a tip-off about the presence of militants in Zalowa area of Chadoora, joint teams of police, army’s 50 RR and CRPF laid a siege late on Thursday evening. “As the joint teams zeroed in on the suspected spot, the hiding militants opened fire leading to an encounter,” he said

A police spokesman said that in order to evacuate the civilians trapped around the encounter site, the joint team ensured the evacuation of all civilians to the safer places. “Besides, to avoid any collateral damage due to darkness, the operation was suspended during night hours and in the wee hours the operation resumed, resulting in the elimination of three militants linked JeM outfit. During the encounter one Army Officer received minor splinter injury,” he said.

The spokesman said that one among the three slain was identified as Waseem Mir son of Ghulam Qadir Mir, a resident of Nowgam, Srinagar, who was active since December 2020. “As per reliable sources and documents recovered, the other two killed militants appear to be as foreigners, however further identification is being ascertained,” he said.

The spokesman said that arms and ammunition including three AK-56 rifles were recovered from the site of encounter.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar appreciated the role of joint team for conducting successful operation without any collateral damage. “With the killing of Waseem, there is only one active militant from Srinagar district now who will either be arrested or killed. In the past seven days, 11 militants including six foreign militants were killed in different encounters,” he said—(KNO)