Terrorist killed in Bandipora gunfight, another held in Kupwara; search operation on

Jammu, June 17

A terrorist was killed by the security forces in an encounter in Kashmir’s Bandipora district on Monday, after which searches were conducted to verify if there were more ultras in the area.

A cordon and search operation was launched by the Army and J&K Police after information was received about the presence of terrorists in Aragam area of the district late on Sunday.

Speculative gunfire had been reported to the security forces on Sunday evening but there was no concrete information about the presence terrorists at that time.

Hizb militant

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The security forces nabbed a Hizbul Mujahideen ultra in the Handwara area of Kupwara. It is believed that the terrorist was in touch with a Pakistani handler.

The Army’s Chinar Corps (15 Corps) wrote in a post on X: “Based on specific intelligence input regarding the presence of terrorists, a joint operation was launched by the Army and J&K Police on the intervening night of 16-17 June in the general area of Gurihajin, Aragam Bandipora; one terrorist eliminated, operation in progress.”

The gunfight started when the terrorist found that the security forces were closing in on him. It was still not known as to how many terrorists were present at the spot. An official, however, said the body of one ultra was retrieved from the site and search operation was still on to find other terrorists, if any.

Meanwhile, the security forces also apprehended a Hizbul Mujahideen ultra in the Handwara area of Kupwara district. It is believed that the terrorist was in touch with a Pakistani handler.

Zakir Hamid Mir, a resident of Kachri, Chougal, was arrested in an operation launched by security forces on late Sunday night.

A police official said information was received about the presence of a terrorist who might have received orders from Pakistani handlers for targeted killing in the area. “A joint operation with 30 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and police was launched, during which the ultra was apprehended,” the official added.

A Chinese pistol, a hand grenade and two magazines of a pistol were recovered from the possession of the ultra. The terrorist was in touch with a handler, identified as Zahoor Ahmad Mir, who is a resident of Handwara but residing in Pakistan.