An Army soldier and three terrorists of Ansar-ul-Ghazwatul Hind and Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) were killed on Tuesday in two separate encounters in Kulgam and Pulwama. The South Kashmir encounters also left two jawans of the CRPF injured.

The soldier and two terrorists were killed in the encounter at Redwani in Kulgam, while a terrorist was eliminated in another encounter at Tral. The encounters broke out on the day when the fourth phase of Panchayat election polling was being held in certain areas of South Kashmir.

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The soldier identified as Prakash Yadav was injured in the encounter and succumbed to injuries after being taken to hospital. Police confirmed that the soldier belonging to 1 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) had been martyred in the encounter and two jawans of the 163 CRPF sustained injuries.

In another encounter, terrorists of Zakir Musa’s Kashmiri version of ISIS, Ansar Ul Ghazwatul Hind, were involved in a gunfight at Reshipora area of Tral in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Based on a credible input about the presence of terrorists in Redwani area, the police said, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by the police and security forces at midnight. As the searches were going on, the team was fired upon by the terrorists. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight. In the initial exchange of fire, one jawan of 1 RR sustained injuries. He was evacuated to hospital where he died. Besides, two jawans of 163 Bn of the CRPF sustained minor injuries.

In the encounter, two terrorists were neutralised and the bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter. The police identified the killed terrorists as Ajaz Ahmad Makroo, Waris Ahmad Malik, Shakir Hassan Dar. Makroo was a close associate of Pakistani terrorist Naved Jatt and was involved in attacks on security forces and looting banks.