NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: A combined team of J&K police and Army gunned down two Pakistani terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) in Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Friday, and officers said those two had killed Kashmiri Pandit clerk Rahul Bhat at Chadoora in Budgam the day before with the help of a local terrorist.
Kashmir range IGP Vijay Kumar said the two slain men were identified as Faisal alias Sikander and Abu Ukasa. The Kashmiri terrorist, Lateef Rather alias Osama, is on the run.
The two Pakistanis were with Gulshan Ahmad Ganai – a wanted terrorist from Baramulla – when he was killed in a shootout in the forests of Salinder in Bandipora on May 11, a day before Bhat was targeted. Faisal and Ukasa managed to escape.
Sources said Faisal, Ukasa and Lateef killed three policemen in Bandipora in February this year. The police were tracking Lateef, a local LeT operative involved in attacks in Srinagar and Budgam, over the past two months.
Lateef’s movement was confirmed a week ago in Salinder, where he had gone to receive a freshly infiltrated group of Lashkar terrorists. An operation was accordingly launched on May 11, leading to Ganai’s killing.
Two other foreign terrorists managed to escape, but J&K police tracked their presence at Chadoora around the time Bhat was killed. Their footprints resurfaced at Brar in Bandipora on Friday, and an operation was launched by a team of police and 13 Rashtriya Rifles. Police said the two men were cornered and killed when they tried to flee their hideout by firing at the forces.
According to police records, 21 Pakistanis were among 77 terrorists killed since January this year, while last year’s tally was 168 from 87 shootouts.
IGP Kumar said terrorists killed constable Riyaz Ahmad Thoker on Friday after they barged into his home in Pulwama and fired several rounds. An officer said Riyaz became the latest victim of terrorists targeting off-duty cops – in their homes, or when they were out shopping. Two dozen cops had lost their lives in targeted killings since last year.
