Srinagar: Three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists, including the suspected mastermind of the the February 14 terror attack on CRPF convoy that killed 49 jawans, were killed in a fierce 18-hour encounter in which an Army major and four other security personnel, including a policeman, and a civilian lost their lives in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on Monday. Several senior officers were also wounded in the incident.
The bloody gunfight in Pinglena area of Pulwama district on Monday led to the killing of Pakistani national Kamran, the alleged mastermind of the audacious attack on CRPF convoy and the so-called divisional commander of JeM for Pulwama, Tral and Awantipora areas of South Kashmir. He was also a trusted aide of JeM chief Moulana Masood Azhar.
The other slain militant was identified as Hilal Ahmad, a local Kashmiri recruited by the terror group, while the identity of the third militant was still being ascertained, officials said.
Some reports said the third slain militant could be Ghazi Rasheed, an Afghan national, who is known to be an IED specialist.
In photos released by security agencies, Kamran is seen as a bespectacled man with a lean built, holding an AK-47 rifle. But the man in a salwar kameez, also referred to as Kamran Bhai, was known to be an ace terror recruiter tasked with radicalising and training terrorists in the Kashmir Valley.
After the operation, defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia confirmed the death of four Army personnel and identified them as Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, Havaldar Sheo Ram, Sepoy Hari Singh and Sepoy Ajay Kumar.
The police said that its head-constable Abdur Rashid and civilian Mushtaq Ahmed Butt were also killed in the firefight that started during a cordon-and-search operation that forced trapped terrorists to fire at the Army party during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, 12 km from Thursday’s audacious attack on CRPF personnel.
Thereafter, the security forces concentrated on the house from where bullets were being fired and killed the three militants.
After gunning down two militants, the security forces torched a couple of residential houses in their final assault on their third accomplice as he was changing his position between the cluster of houses, making it difficult for the former to neutralise him. However, an Army officer said that the houses caught fire in the gunbattle.
Besides the five casualties suffered by the security forces, the encounter resulted in injuries to deputy inspector general of police (South Kashmir) Amit Kumar, a brigadier, a Lt. colonel, a major and four other ranks of the Army unit.
Later, Corps Commander Lt. Gen. K.J.S. Dhillon led other ranks in paying homage to the four soldiers, including Major Dhoundiyal, who laid down their lives in the operation, a defence spokesperson said.
Representatives from other security agencies also joined in paying their last respects to the soldiers.
An Army spokesperson said the 33-year-old major had joined Army in 2011 and belonged to village Dangwal in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. He is survived by his wife.
Havaldar Ram (36) had joined Army in 2000 and hailed from Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. He is survived by his wife and a son. Sepoy Singh (26) belonged to Rewari in Haryana. He joined the Army in 2011 and is survived by his wife and son.
Sepoy Kumar hailed from village Bastikri in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The 27-year-old had joined the Army in 2012 and is survived by his wife and a son. Their mortal remains were flown to their native places for the last rites.
