Security forces on Monday recovered the body of a third militant killed a day earlier after attacking a CRPF camp in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
“The body was found at the Lethpora encounter site. With this, the search operation has ended,” a police officer said.
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Three Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants attacked a training centre of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), triggering fierce fighting that lasted nearly 12 hours. Five CRPF troopers were also killed in the fighting.
The identity of the third militant was being established, police said. Internet services suspended in Pulwama district on Sunday are yet to be restored.
Video message by teenage militant
Earlier in the day, a video shot by Kashmiri militant Fardeem Ahmad Khanday, who was killed by security forces encounter in the CRPF camp of South Kashmir on Sunday, has appeared on social media, where he is urging Kashmiri youth to join the fight against the Indian security forces in the valley.
The security agencies are analysing contents of the nearly eight-minute video made by Fardeem, who is son of a serving policeman.
The other militant, killed also belonged to Kashmir, he has been identified as Manzoor (22) of Pulwama district.
This is also for the first time that a militant has recorded a video message before getting killed in the encounter. The video message has caused concern among the police that had succeeded in persuading several Kashmiri youth to shun militancy and return home. Such video might upset the home coming of other young militants.
The police had last year counseled 75 boys and stopped them from joining militant ranks.
Mother of the other killed militant, Manzoor, had last month made fervent appeal to him to return home, but her pleading went in vain.
Involvement of Kashmiri youths in the JeM terror attack has given a new twist to terrorism in the valley as this is perhaps for the first time that bosses of the outfit operating from Pakistan have tasked the local boys for attacking the CRPF camp.
Class X dropout
The 16-year-old Fardeem was a class X dropout of and he joined the JeM three months ago. His father Ghulam Mohammad Khanday is a constable in the J-K police and is posted in Srinagar.
He was resident of the Tral town of South Kashmir that was also hometown of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in an encounter in 2016 triggering a long-stretched violent agitation in Kashmir.
It is believed that Fardeem shot the video just before he was killed in the encounter. He asked Kashmiris to join the struggle as no freedom would be achieved without sacrifice.
Among the five CRPF personnel killed in the attack, two belonged to J-K. Constable Shariefuddin Ganai belonged to Chadoora in Budgam and Head Constable Toufail Ahmad was from Rajouri.
