January 10: Based on a specific input generated by Kulgam Police regarding presence of militants in village Hasanpora situated on border between Kulgam and Anantnag, a joint cordon and search operation was launched yesterday evening by Police and 1stRR in the said area.
During the search operation, as the joint search party proceeded towards the suspected spot, the hiding militants fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated effectively leading to an encounter.
In the ensuing encounter, two militants of proscribed militant outfit Al-Badr were killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of the encounter. They have been identified as Imad Muzaffar Wani resident of Arigam Pulwama and Abdul Rashid Thoker resident of Hassanpora.
As per police records, both the killed militants were categorized militants. They were part of groups involved in several crime cases including attacks on security forces and civilian atrocities. Besides, terrorist Imad Wani was involved in attack on police personnel Mushtaq Ahmad Wagay of Pulwama on 19-12-2021, in which the said police personnel got seriously injured. While as, killed terrorist Abdul Rashid Thoker, before joining militant ranks was working as militant associate and was also involved in attack on a civilian at Chitragam in which said civilian got injured.
Incriminating materials, arms & ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation.
Regarding the incident a case under relevant sections of law has been registered in PS Bijbehara, Anantnag and investigation has been initiated. People are requested to cooperate with Police till the area at encounter site is completely sanitized and cleared of all the explosive materials, if any. (Press release )