NEW DELHI, Oct 13: A top commander of the Pakistan-based terror organization Jaish-e-Mohammad was killed in an encounter with the security forces in Tral in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, the police said.
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the slain commander was identified as Sham Sofi.
Acting on specific inputs about the presence of terrorists in Tilwani Mohalla Waggad in the Tral area of Awantipora, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
He said an encounter broke out after the militants opened fire at the security personnel, who retaliated. In the exchange of fire, a militant was killed, the official said.
“Top JeM Commander #terrorist Sham Sofi killed in Tral #Encounter,” the IGP said on Kashmir Zone Police’s Twitter handle.
It was the sixth such gun battle between the militants and the security forces in the last two days. Amid this development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested four persons for their alleged links with The Resistant Front (TRF), which has claimed responsibility for the recent attacks in the Valley. According a police spokesman, “The police and security forces are on the job.”
Eight militants were gunned down and five security personnel lost their lives in operations in the Valley this week. Militants had carried out multiple attacks, especially on minority community, in Kashmir. Earlier in the day, a NIA spokesman said the agency conducted searches in multiple locations in Kashmir in the past 24 hours and arrested four persons.
The arrested were identified as Waseem Ahmed Sofi from Srinagar’s Chattabal; Tariq Ahmed Dar from Srinagar’s Shergarhi; Bilal Ahmed Mir alias Bilal Fufu from Srinagar’s Parimpora and Tariq Ahmed Bafanda from Srinagar’s Rajauri Kadal.
The NIA said the arrests were made in a case that pertained to information received regarding the “hatching of conspiracy both physically and in cyberspace for undertaking violent terrorist acts in J&K and other major cities, including New Delhi, by cadres of proscribed terrorist organisations Laskhar-e-Taiba [LeT], Jaish-e-Mohammed [JeM], Hizb-ul-Mujahideen [HM], Al Badr and similar other outfits and their affiliates such as the Resistance Front [TRF], People Against Fascist Forces [PAFF] etc”.
The NIA searched 16 locations in Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian on Tuesday. During the searches, several electronic devices, incriminating ‘jehadi’ documents and records of suspicious financial transactions were seized, it claimed.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the arrested accused persons are terror associates or Over ground Workers (OGWs) of various proscribed terrorist organisations and have been providing logistical and material support to terrorists and facilitating them in their nefarious designs,” the NIA stated.
(Manas Dasgupta)