Police said that the trio was affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit and the militants fired on a search party, leading to an encounter in Gujar Basti Gulshanpora area of Tral. Police said that the trio was affiliated with the proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit and the militants fired on a search party, leading to an encounter in Gujar Basti Gulshanpora area of Tral.

Three Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a commander of the outfit, were gunned down by security forces during a cordon-and-search operation at Tral in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday. The operation was launched on Saturday late night after policeman-turned-Hizbul commander Syed Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu was arrested along with a top J&K Police officer and two others.

Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar said on Sunday, “Yesterday, we got an input that three militants are hiding in Gulshanpora village of Tral. One of them was Hamad Khan, a most wanted terrorist who was involved in several civilian and policemen killings in the past two years.”

Srinagar: Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir police Vijay Kumar along with DIG Police Birdi Kumar and SP operations Tahir Ashraf address a press conference regarding the killing of Hizbul Mujahiden commanders during Tral encounter, at Police Headquarters in Srinagar, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (PTI) Srinagar: Inspector General of Jammu and Kashmir police Vijay Kumar along with DIG Police Birdi Kumar and SP operations Tahir Ashraf address a press conference regarding the killing of Hizbul Mujahiden commanders during Tral encounter, at Police Headquarters in Srinagar, Sunday, Jan. 12, 2020. (PTI)

“When our party, including personnel from Army, police and CRPF, prepared a cordon and asked him to surrender, he fired and we retaliated. Two militants were killed. The third shifted to another house and was eventually killed in the exchange of fire,” he said.

A J&K Police spokesperson said bodies of the three militants had been retrieved. They have been identified as Umer Fayaz Lonealias Hamad Khan from Seer Tral, Faizan Hamid from Mandoora Tral and Adil Bashir Mir from Monghama Tral.

“As per police records, the terrorists were affiliated with the proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and wanted by law for their complicity in terror crimes, including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” the spokesperson said.

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