Female artist, cop killed, 3 ultras neutralised in separate incidents

A female artist and cop were killed while the security forces eliminated three militants in separate incidents across Kashmir region.

“Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists shot dead a woman TV artist and injured her minor nephew at her home in Jammu and Kashmir’s Budgam district” police said.

The incident took place in the Hashoora Chadoora area of the central Kashmir district. The woman was identified as Amreen Bhat and her nephew as Farhan Zubair (10), they said.

Political parties condemned the “dastardly” attack and said there can be no justification for targeting innocents.

“Today around 7:55 pm, police received information about a terror crime incident in Hushroo Chadoora area of Budgam where terrorists fired upon one lady and her nephew. Senior police officers along with reinforcements reached the terror crime spot, a police spokesperson said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the terrorists had fired at the woman, Amreen Bhat, at her home, he said.
“In this terror crime incident, the lady and her nephew, namely Farhan Zubair (10), received gunshot injuries. Both were immediately evacuated to a nearby hospital for treatment. However, the lady was declared brought dead.

“The condition of the boy, who has received a bullet injury in his arm, is stated to be stable,” he added.
The spokesperson said three terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT were involved in this incident.

The entire area has been cordoned off and a search operation is underway, he said.
A case has been registered in the matter under relevant sections of law and an investigation is underway, he added.

“Three Pakistani terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) were on Wednesday killed in a “chance” encounter with security forces in Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

A policeman also lost his life in the encounter that took place at Najibhat crossing in Kreeri area in the north Kashmir district, they said.

Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar said the encounter took place at one of the checkpoints set up by the security forces across the valley.

“There were nakas (set up) across Kashmir today. At one such naka at Najibhat crossing in Kreeri area, there was a chance encounter (with terrorists). Three Pakistani JeM terrorists were killed,” the IGP told reporters here.
He said a policeman, Mudasir Ahmad Sheikh, was also killed in the encounter.

A police spokesperson identified the slain terrorists as Ali Bhai, Hanief Bhai and Shah Wali — all residents of Pakistan.

Incriminating materials and a huge cache of arms and ammunition including three AK-47 rifles, 15 AK-47 magazines, 344 AK rounds, five Chinese grenades and three IEDs were recovered from the encounter site. All the recovered material has been included in the case records for further investigation, he said.
Searches are on to nab another suspect, he added.

Kumar said while the police force is pained by the loss of one of its men, the killing of the three terrorists is a huge success.

The three terrorists were on the way to Srinagar to carry out some big attack, he said.
The IGP said the terrorists were active in the hilly areas of Gulmarg for the last three to four months.
“We were regularly tracking them,” he said, adding that 22 Pakistani terrorists have been killed in various encounters with security forces so far this year.

There will be increased attempts to neutralise Pakistani terrorists, he said.
Asked about Tuesday’s attack in the city’s Soura area in which a police constable was killed and his minor daughter injured, Kumar said two local terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) behind the attack have been identified as Adil from Ganderbal and Aquib from Chadoora in Budgam.

“We will neutralise them soon,” he said.

The slain constable’s daughter is undergoing treatment at a hospital. Her condition is stable, he said.
Appealing to people to condemn such attacks, Kumar said the time has come even for the families of terrorists to come out on the roads and raise their voice against terrorism.