Four top LeT militants, jawan killed in fierce gunbattle in JK

Srinagar, Jul 15 (PTI) Security personnel killed four
top militants of Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Toiba (LET) but lost
an army jawan in a day-long fierce gunbattle in the border
district of Kupwara in north Kashmir in the northern Indian
state Jammu and Kashmir Friday.
The police had received an intelligence input that a
group of five Lashker militants had sneaked into a house at
village Maidanpora in Lolab, 120 kms from here, after moving
out of Sopore town where they had carried out an attack on a
police station on July five killing one policeman.
"A search and cordon operation was launched in the wee
hours today in which police was assisted by 18 Rashtriya
Rifles personnel. An operation was launched after a woman who
was trapped inside a house could come out to safety," a police
spokesman said.
In the day-long encounter that followed, he said four
top Lashker militants were killed while the body of the fifth
was believed to be buried under the debris.
One army jawan identified as Nayak Sumer Singh from
Nagaur district of Rajasthan was killed while another received
a bullet injury in his stomach, he said. Besides this, four
others including an army captain received minor injuries in
the operation.
The body of Singh was likely to be taken to his
hometown Saturday, S D Goswami, defence spokesperson, said in
Jodhpur.
The encounter broke out Friday morning when a joint
search party of army and police came under fire from a house,
Senior Superintendent of Police V K Birdi said.
He said the house was cordoned off by the joint party
of Special Operations Group, local police and 18 Rashtriya
Rifles after getting specific information about presence of a
group of militants affiliated with Lashker including
self-styled divisional commander Abu Saqib and district
commander Abu Hamaad.
There was no immediate exchange of fire between the
two sides as security forces wanted to ensure that all
civilians were out of the building before the operation was
launched, he said.
While the menfolk had come out of the building this
morning, the wife of the house owner and his daughter were
trapped inside for more than an hour, officials said, adding
the girl came out first from the house followed by her
mother half-an-hour later.
Security forces engaged the militants after the two
came out safely and killed the holed up militants, Birdi said.
He said the house where the militants had taken
shelter was damaged during the encounter and efforts are on to
retrieve the bodies of the slain militants.
"Once the debris is cleared, the exact toll will
emerge," he said.