This story is from February 19, 2020

SRINAGAR: Hizbul Mujahideen commander Jehangir Rafiq Wani alias Umar Mukhtar and two of his aides were killed in an anti-insurgency operation in Tral of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district early on Wednesday. The other slain terrorists were identified as Raja Umer Maqbool Bhat and Uzair Ahmed Bhat, J&K DGP Dilbagh Singh said while addressing a press conference later in the day.

Jehangir had taken over the outfit after its former commander Hammad Khan was killed in a January 12 encounter. He was involved in several attacks on security forces and two civilian murders — one in November 2019 and another earlier this month. After the nullification of Articles 370 and 35A on August 5, Jehangir and Raja Umer were involved in the torching of a mosque, chemist shop and trucks in Tral, DGP Singh said, adding that Jehangir’s actions had created fear in the area.

Early on Wednesday, security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in Tral’s Sherabad village based on intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in the area. “The holed-up terrorists opened fire at the search party, triggering an encounter in which the Hizb trio was killed,” said a cop.

In the first two months of 2020, security forces have carried out 10 successful anti-insurgency operations across the Union Territory in which 23 terrorists have been killed, Kashmir Zone IGP Vijay Kumar, who was also at the conference, said. Two of these encounters took place in Jammu where four terrorists were killed and the rest in Kashmir where 19 terrorists were killed. Security forces didn’t suffer any loss of life or injury in these fire exchanges.

DGP Singh said several terror modules have been busted and more than 40 overground workers arrested. Kashmir has also witnessed a steep decline in local youths joining terror ranks, while eight youths who had picked up arms earlier this year have returned to the mainstream.

Meanwhile, ceasefire violations by Pakistan from across the Line of Control and International Border have increased in a bid to enable infiltrators to enter India. “The terrorists who were killed at Bann toll plaza recently were also infiltrators planning to carry out a terror strike on January 26,” DGP Singh said.

A large number of terrorists are waiting at the Pak launch pads to enter India as soon as the snow thaws. “All these launch pads remained active this year despite heavy snowfall so that they could infiltrate whenever they found an opportunity,” DGP Singh said. “On Tuesday, a drone from Pakistan entered the Indian airspace and returned after the BSF opened fire,” he added.

