The Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed that the militants slain in a gunfight with the security forces in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday had carried out the killing of Special Police Officer (SPO) Khushboo Jan earlier this year.
“They were involved in the killing of the lady Khusboo Jan at Vehil Shopian earlier this year,” a police spokesperson said in a statement.
On March 16, Khushboo was fired at from a close range near her house around 2:40 p.m. She breathed her last on the way to the nearby hospital.
The spokesman said that both the militants were responsible for either killing or adduction of the following people across south Kashmir in last few months: civilians Firdous Ahmad of Batgund, Nissar Ahmad of Kapran, Huzaif Ashraf Kuttay resident of Manzgam, D.H Pora and Tanveer Ahmad of Bemnipora; policeman Balwant Singh of Batgund in 2018, and Saqib Mohi-ud-Din.
He said that both of them were also involved in arson and setting ablaze of Panchayat Ghars at Kanjiullar and Ramnagar.
According to the spokesman, both the slain militants – identified as Abid Wagay resident of Rawalpora Shopian and Shahjahan Mir resident of Amshepora Shopian – were affiliated with the banned Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit.
The spokesman said that as per police records Shahjahan was also involved in snatching of weapons and killing of four police personnel at Arhama Shopian near petrol pump last year in 2018.
“Several militant crime cases were registered against both of them for planning and executing militant attacks on security establishments and killing of civilians in the area,” the spokesman said.
The duo was killed during a brief exchange of fire with the forces at Gahand village of the district on Saturday morning.
A police official said that a joint team of army, CRPF and SOG men laid a siege around Gahand village and started a search operation at around 7: 30 am.
He said that militants hiding in an apple orchard opened fire on the forces and the fire was immediately returned which resulted in the killing of two militants.
The police said that incriminating materials including arms and ammunition was recovered from the gunfight site.
“All these materials have been taken in the case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crime cases,” he said.
Police said that citizens are once again requested not to venture inside the gunfight zone since such an area can prove dangerous due to stray explosive materials.
“People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitised and cleared of all the explosives materials if any,” the police said.
