A militant was killed in a gunfight with the security forcesin Tral area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Wednesday, police said.
“On a credible input, a cordon & search operation waslaunched jointly by police and security forces at Branpatri, forest area ofTral in Awantipora,” said a spokesman.
During the search operation, he said the hiding militantsfired on the search party. The fire was retaliated leading to an encounter.
“In the ensuing encounter, one militant was killed and the body was retrieved from the site of encounter,” he said. The slain militant has been identified as Shabir Ahmad Malik from Nagbal Tral, said a police spokesman. “As per the police records, he was initially affiliated with proscribed outfit LeT and later on was part of Zakir Musa group.”
Incriminating material including arms & ammunition hasbeen recovered from the site of the encounter.
“Pertinently with the efforts of Police and security forces,it was a clean operation. No collateral damage happened during the encounter,”said the spokesman.
“Citizens are requested not to venture inside the encounterzone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials.People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completelysanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials if any.”