Kashmir: Senior police officer killed in encounter; three soldiers injured
On Sunday, a senior police officer was killed and another Army officer injured in an encounter between terrorists and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district. The encounter took place after terrorists opened fire on security forces conducting a cordon and search operation in the district's Turigam area, located 68km from Srinagar. Here are the details.
What we know of the encounter
The cordon and search operation was being carried out jointly by the police, CRPF, and the Army. Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar Thakur was leading the police team from the front, when terrorists opened fire and killed him. Three soldiers, including an Army major, was injured during the exchange of fire. However, security forces managed to neutralize three terrorists in the encounter.
Thakur had headed the counter-terrorism wing of the state police
Thakur, a 2011 batch KPS officer, is survived by his parents, wife, and six-year-old son. A resident of Doda district in Kashmir, Thakur had served as the head of the counter-terrorism wing of the state police in Kulgam district for the last one-and-a-half years, and had played an instrumental role in finding and eliminating terrorists in the area.
On Friday, another encounter had taken place
Notably, Sunday's encounter comes just two days after two terrorists were killed in the Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir. Friday's encounter had taken place after security forces were alerted about the presence of terrorists in the area, and launched a cordon and search operation to weed them out. Following the encounter, security forces had recovered arms and ammunition from the terrorists.
The encounters come in the backdrop of the Pulwama attack
The two encounters come in the backdrop of the Pulwama attack, which took place on February 14 and left more than 40 CRPF jawans martyred. The terror attack was claimed by Pakistan-based terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), and following the attack, both India and the international community have come down heavily on Islamabad, pressurizing it to stop supporting terror groups on its home soil.
