Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur with his son. Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur with his son.

Two security personnel and three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants died on Sunday following an encounter in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Aman Thakur and an Army jawan were killed in the exchange of fire, a Jammu and Kashmir police official said. Thakur is survived by his parents, wife and a six-year-old son.

The gunfight erupted in Turigam after police visited the area following intelligence input about the possible presence of a group of militants in the area. DSP Thakur was injured in the neck and succumbed to his injuries when he was being flown to the army hospital, officials said.

An army major and two soldiers were also injured in the encounter, officials said, adding that a non-commissioned officer, Havaldar Sombir, succumbed to his injuries subsequently. The other injured persons, including the major, are out of danger.

“One body has been retrieved. We have information that two more militants have died. Prima facie, it was a group of militants from Jaish who were hiding somewhere after which security forces started operation,” ANI quoted DGP Dilbagh Singh as saying.

In a statement released later, police said, “In the ongoing encounter at Turigam Yaripora, we have lost a young colleague Dy. Superintendent of Police Operations Shri Aman Kumar Thakur while fighting terrorists in Kulgam today. We pay rich tributes to our colleague Martyr Dy SP Aman Kumar Thakur for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty today at Kulgam. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this critical juncture.”

A resident of Doda district, Kumar was a 2011 batch KPS Officer who led the operation today, the statement read. He was heading the counter-terrorism wing of the state police in Kulgam since the last one-and-a-half-year and had played an instrumental role in killing several terrorists in the area, the release added.

Later in the evening, a wreath-laying ceremony was held for Thakur at District Police Lines, Srinagar.

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