Srinagar: Top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and close associate of Reyaz Naikoo have been killed in an encounter in Khrew area of South Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Thursday morning, police told Valley Media Service.
Based on a credible input about the presence of militants in Sharshali area of Khrew in Awantipora, a cordon and search operation was launched swiftly at predawn hours today jointly by Police and security forces in the area.
As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the militants. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight.
In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed and the bodies were retrieved, arms and ammunition also were recovered from the site of encounter.
The slain militants identified as Adnan Ahmad Lone@Uqaab son of Ghulam Mohammad Lone resident of Braw Bandina, Awantipora & Adil Bilal Bhat@Umair Al Hizbi son of Bilal Ahmad Bhat resident of Malangpora, Pulwama affiliated with militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Arms & ammunition recovered, police spokesman said VMS.
Adnan Lone was known as district commander of Pulwama for Hizbul Mujahideen.
Both the militants were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of militancy cases including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities, police spokesman said.
He was a close associate of militant commander Reyaz Naikoo and had escaped from encounter site at Srinagar earlier. Several militancy cases were registered against him.
Similarly Adil Bhat being a close associate of Reyaz Naikoo was also involved in several militancy crimes. Among several other militancy offences he also figured in killing of HC Ashiq Hussain at Awantipora in October 2017, he added.
Pertinently, no collateral damage took place during the encounter.
Huge quantity of arms & ammunition including rifles were recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken in the case records for further investigation and probe their complicity in other militancy cases. (VMS)
