Killer Of Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma Killed In Encounter With Security Forces: ADGP Kashmir

The security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora have killed the terrorist who had shot dead Kashmiri pandit Sanjay Sharma in Pulwama recently.

New Delhi: The terrorist who killed Kashmiri Pandit Sanjay Sharma in Pulwaya two days back, has been killed by the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Awantipora during an encounter in the early hours of Tuesday. Police said that the body of the terrorist is yet to be retrieved by the forces.

ADGP Kashmir said that the killed terrorist has been identified as Aqib Mustaq Bhat from Pulwama.

"He initially worked for the Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit, nowadays he had been working with TRF. The killer of Kashmiri Pandit, Sanjay Sharma has been neutralised," ADGP added, quoted ANI.

Security forces neutralised two terrorists in an encounter that broke out early morning on Tuesday.

Kashmir Zone Police earlier confirmed the news of the encounter on Twitter and said, "#AwantiporaEncounterUpdate: 01 #terrorist killed. Body of the killed terrorist yet to be retrieved. #Encounter in progress. Further details shall follow."

"Encounter has started at Padgampora Awantipora in Pulwama district. Police and security forces are on the job. Further details shall follow," Kashmir Zone police said in a tweet.

The development comes two days after a 40-year-old Kashmiri Pandit was shot dead by terrorists while he was on his way to the local market in Pulwama, in another case of target killing.

The locals took him to a hospital where Sharma succumbed to bullet injuries. According to PTI, police said that Sanjay Sharma, who worked as an ATM guard, was shot in the chest at point-blank range in the Achan area of the south Kashmir district at around 11 am.

DIG Rayees Mohammad Bhat said that hunt is on to nab the attackers. "The incident took place around 10:30 am. Terrorists fired upon a member of a minority community when he was going towards a market along with his wife. We are searching for the terrorist and we will neutralise them as early as possible," he told ANI.

As per local inputs, the deceased was a security guard in a private bank. There are reported to be two assailants who fired upon him. Sanjay Sharma is said to have been shot at close quarters.

Police have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to nab the attackers.

The deceased worked as an ATM guard in a bank but was not reporting to duty of late following an earlier spate of terror attacks on his community members, his colleagues said as quoted by PTI.