Salute the courage of CRPF personnel martyred today: PM Modi on Pampore encounter

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday offered his condolences to the kin of the eight Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, who were martyred today in an encounter with Lashkar terrorists in Pampore, Jammu and Kashmir. "I salute the courage of the CRPF personnel martyred today in J&K. They served the nation with utmost dedication. Pained by their demise. My thoughts are with the families of those martyred today. May those injured recover soon," the Prime Minister said in a series of tweets. Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has also condemned the militant attack, saying that such acts of violence were aimed at subverting the Government's efforts to bring peace and prosperity to the state. "The only purpose of such blood-spattered acts of violence is to add to the tragedies and miseries of the people and subvert the Government's efforts aimed at bringing permanent peace and prosperity to Jammu and Kashmir," Mufti said in a statement. Eight CRPF personnel were martyred and 24 injured in the major ambush by two terrorists, who were neutralised in the encounter in Pampore. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar offered his condolences to the families of the martyred and said that he is praying for the early recovery of those injured. CRPF DG K Durga Prasad has briefed Home Minister Rajnath Singh on the incident and will be visiting Pampore tomorrow to take stock of the situation. The CRPF today asserted that the two terrorists, who have been neutralized in the gun-, appeared to be Pakistanis and were Lashkar-e-Taiba operatives. "According to the first hand info, both killed terrorists appeared to be Pakistanis and definitely from Lashkar and in all likelihood fidayeen," IG, CRPF operation Nalin Parbhat told ANI. Security personnel recovered arms and ammunition including 2 AK 47 Rifles, 11 hand grenades from the killed terrorists.