(with inputs from Sanjay Khajuria in Jammu)

SRINAGAR: Four terrorists were killed in an overnight anti-insurgency operation in south Kashmir ’s Shopian district on Wednesday, IG (Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said. Meanwhile, in Poonch’s Surankote area, a team of J&K Police’s special operations group busted a terrorist hideout and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition — including one AK-47 rifle, three magazines, 43 rounds of ammunition, one Chinese pistol, one pistol magazine and one pouch — the same day.Police are yet to ascertain the identities and affiliation of the terrorists slain in the Shopian encounter.The encounter erupted late on Tuesday after a joint team of Army ’s 55RR and J&K Police launched a cordon-and-search operation in Malhura area of Shopian’s Zainpora village — around 56km from Srinagar — based on intelligence inputs about the presence of four terorrists in the area, IG Kumar said.As the security forces neared the hideout, holed-up terrorists opened fire at the search party, triggering an encounter. “While two terrorists were killed in the ensuing firefight around 5am, two more were killed later in the day,” IG Kumar said.The DNA samples of the four have been taken to verify their identities. “We are conducting the burial in the presence of a magistrate. So far, the family of one has come forward to identify their ward. Only two to three people will be allowed to participate in the last rites as per standard operating procedure amid the lockdown,” the IG said. “Those who claim the other bodies later on, will be required to provide their DNA samples for the future course of action,” he added.DGP Dilbagh Singh said on Wednesday that Pakistan was earlier pushing in infiltrators into J&K, but now is trying to push in asymptomatic Covid-19-positive terrorists in a bid to spread the virus in the Union Territory.