Srinagar: Security forces on Wednesday neutralised a terrorist - Sham Sofi - who was later identified as top commander of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Jammu & Kashmir's Tral area, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar informed.
According to reports, the terrorist was killed in an encounter between the security forces and terrorists in Tilwani Mohalla in the Tral area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Awantipora district.
“Terrorist Sham Sofi (was) killed in Tral encounter,” IGP Kashmir said.
"The terrorist killed in Tral encounter has been identified as Shamim Sofi aka Sham Sofi. He was the top local commander of the Jaish-e-Mohammed. He was first arrested in 2004 and spent 2 years in jail under PSA. He became active after coming out of jail," IGP Kashmir further said.
"In June 2019, he became totally active and was involved in many killings. He used to provide shelter and hide-out to foreign Jaish terrorists. It is a big achievement for security forces in that area. We're searching the area for another terrorist," he added.
A joint operation was conducted by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and J&K Police after they received intel of few terrorists being trapped in the area.
As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where the terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.
The encounter comes a day after five terrorists linked with proscribed terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) were killed during anti-terrorist operations in Tulran and Feeripora villages in the Shopian district.
Jammu & Kashmir is one again witnessing resurgence of militants with regular encounters taking place since the last one week. On Monday, five soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) were killed in a gunfight with the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district.
According to security forces, the soldiers, who suffered critical injuries in an encounter with the terrorists, were evacuated to a nearby medical facility, but they succumbed to injuries.
Three LeT terrorists were killed in an encounter between the terrorists and security forces at Tulran Imamsahab area in Shopian. The terrorist responsible for the killing of a street hawker Virendra Paswan of Bihar was among the three LeT men gunned down.