Two Army soldiers and a terrorist were killed on Saturday in an encounter in the Chermarg (Zainpora) area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The two soldiers of the Rashtriya Rifles (RR) martyred during the encounter have been identified as Santosh Yadav and Sepoy Romit Chauhan. Both were critically injured during the encounter and were shifted to the military hospital at Srinagar where they succumbed, reports said.
A joint team of SOG of Police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation following the input about the presence of terrorists in the area generated by J&K Police.
The encounter broke out as the joint team of security forces intensified searches towards the target spot. The hiding terrorists opened fire at the security forces injuring two soldiers.
Police said that when the search party reached the house belonging to Gowhar Ahmd Bhat, the house-owner intentionally misled the search party and denied having sheltered the terrorist in his house. While he was being questioned, a terrorist sheltered in the house opened fire on causing grievous injuries to two Soldiers.
In the retaliatory action, one terrorist of LeT outfit Abdul Qayoom was neutralised and arms and ammunitions including one AK rifle and a pistol were recovered.
The slain terrorist has a history of militant associate. In April 2020 an encounter took place in his house. He was arrested and booked under PSA. He was released in August 2021 but kept quietly working for terrorists.
Meanwhile, a 12-year-old girl was seriously injured in a landmine explosion near the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district of Jammu.
The injured girl, Jameela Bi was returning home after grazing her goats when she accidentally stepped on a landmine near her Sokud-Bagyal Dhara village in Shahpur sector. She was seriously injured in the explosion and was immediately evacuated to the nearby military hospital.