Srinagar: Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants including a commander of the outfit, were killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, police said.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, V K Birdhi said the duo identified as Riyaz Dar and Rayees Dar were killed in the exchange of firing during a cordon and search operation in Nihama area of the south Kashmir district.
Riyaz Dar was a “commander” of the LeT and was wanted in several cases. He had been evading security forces for many years.
Security forces had launched the operation after receiving specific inputs about the presence of terrorists there, a police official said.
The militants opened fire on members of a search party and the two terrorists were killed in the ensuing encounter, the official said.
The firing intensified in the afternoon following which the house in which the duo was holed up caught fire.
The operation was called off at 4 PM after the recovery their bodies.
Riyaz Dar had joined the Lashker-e-Taiba in 2014 and had closely worked with slain Pakistani duo Abu Dujana and Abu Ismail.
While Riyaz, designated as an A++ militant, carried a cash reward of above Rs 10 lakh, Rayees Dar was categorised as ‘A’ carrying a cash reward of Rs 5 lakh.
This is the second anti-militancy operation in South Kashmir in less than four weeks.
On May 7, the police killed Basit Dar, a commander of the The Resistance Front (TRF) militant group, said to be a shadow group of Lashker-e-Taiba.
He and another militant, Momeen, were killed in an encounter in Kulgam’s Redwani village. Both were involved in 18 cases which included targeting of minorities and police personnel. (Agencies)