Two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants involved in the murder of BJP leader Waseem Bari and two of his family members last year were killed on Sunday in an encounter with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Bandipora district, police said.
Police had received information about the presence of terrorists in Watrina village of north Kashmir's Bandipora on Saturday evening, a spokesperson said.
Following this, a cordon and search operation was launched in the area by the police, the 14 Rashtriya Rifles, and the Central Reserve Police Force, he said, adding, "Contact with the hiding terrorists was established on Sunday morning."
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The holed-up terrorists were given multiple opportunities to surrender to which they did not pay any heed and fired indiscriminately at the joint search party. The security forces retaliated leading to the encounter, the police spokesperson said.
He said the two terrorists, identified as Azad Ahmad Shah and Abid Rashid Dar alias Haqani, were killed in the exchange of fire and their bodies retrieved. Arms and ammunition, including two AK-47 rifles and a pistol, and incriminating materials have been seized from the encounter site, he said.
The two slain terrorists were affiliated with the proscribed terror outfit LeT. Dar was a Pakistan-trained terrorist who had crossed over the Wagah Border in April 2018 and had infiltrated back in 2019, the police spokesperson said.
'Police records show that both the terrorists were involved in planning and executing terror attacks on security establishments and killing civilians. Dar was instrumental in recruiting gullible youth in north Kashmir into LeT," he added.
According to the spokesperson, both of them, along with foreign terrorists Usman and Sajad alias Haider, were involved in the killing of BJP district president Waseem Bari, his brother and father in July last year.
Usman and Sajad were killed in an encounter at Kreeri in August last year.
"Therefore, all the four terrorists involved in the... killing of the BJP leader and his family have been eliminated," the spokesperson said.
Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar appreciated the police and security forces for conducting a successful operation without any collateral damage.