2 top terrorists killed in gunbattle

The encounter took place at Dangerpora village in Sopore, 54 km from here, during a joint operation by the police, Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Viplav Kumar.

Kumar, who supervised the operation, said the police received a tip off about the presence of two dreaded militants in a house in the village and laid a cordon around 10.30 pm on Tuesday night.Rashtriya Rifles and Central Reserve Police Force parties joined the police party and a gunbattle with the militants, hiding in the house of one Zahoor Ahmad Ganai, started around 6 am on Wednesday morning, he said. The SSP said both the militants were killed in the gunbattle which ended around 11 am.

Bodies of both the militants were recovered from the debris of the house and have been identified as Ali Sher, a Pakistani militant, who was acting as deputy chief operations commander of HUM outfit, and his local aide Mumtaz Ahmad Parray, a resident of Pethseer village of Sopore, he said.

Terming the killing of the two militants as a “major breakthrough”, he said Ali Sher, who was also functioning under the code names of “Qari” and “Kalimullah”, was active in the valley for the last six years.