As per the officials, in a pre-dawn gunfight in Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Thursday, two Hizb-ul- Mujahideen militants were gunned down by security forces. Acting on the inputs, a cordon and search operation was launched at Bagender Mohalla in Bijbehara area by the police and the security forces. During the searches, the team was fired upon by the militants.
The fire was retaliated by the security forces which led to an encounter. The bodies of the two militants have been retrieved from the site of encounter. Incriminating material, including arms and ammunition, was recovered from the site of encounter.
The militants were identified as Safder Amin Bhat, 25, and Burhan Ahmad Ganie alais Saifullah, 25, a student of Bachelor of Physiotherapy. The police said, “One AK rifle and one SLR were recovered from the encounter site.”
People have been advised not to venture inside the areas where the encounter took place, due to the possibility that stray explosive materials were still present there. In a statement, the police said, “People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosives materials if any.”
The encounter comes amid the election season in Jammu and Kashmir. Due to security concerns, the Anantnag Parliamentary constituency will vote in three phases. While polling stations in part of Anantnag district voted on April 18, those in Kulgam district will vote on April 29. The remaining polling stations in Shopian and Pulwama districts will vote on May 6.
On April 1, four militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Three Army jawans and a policeman also sustained injuries.
