Army colonel, major, DSP among five killed in separate J&K encounters

In one of the bloodiest days in Jammu and Kashmir in recent years, an army colonel, a major, a police officer, a soldier, and an SPO were killed in two separate encounters between terrorists and security forces on Wednesday.

Two terrorists were also killed by security forces in the encounters.

A gunfight broke out between the security forces and the terrorists hiding in Gadole forests of Kokernag in Anantnag during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday following a specific input about the presence of terrorists in the area, police said.

In the initial exchange of firing an army colonel, a major and a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) were critically injured, reports said. The injured were immediately airlifted to Army’s 92-Base Hospital in Srinagar, where they succumbed to their injuries.

The slain officers were identified as Colonel Manpreet Singh, Commanding Officer of 19-Rashtriya Rifles, Major Ashish, and Deputy Superintendent of Police Humayun Bhat, who was the son of former Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Ghulam Hassan Bhat.

Reports said Colonel Singh, leading his team from the front, attacked the terrorists. However, the terrorists fired upon the search party in which three officers were critically injured.

The Resistance Front (TRF), believed to be a shadow group of Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT), has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Top army and police officers, including General-officer-Commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lieutenant General Rajiv Gha, Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh, Additional Director General of Police, Vijay Kumar, rushed to the encounter spot to monitor the situation, reports said.

Earlier in the day two militants, an army personnel and a special police officer (SPO) were killed in an encounter between security forces and ultras in border Rajouri district of Jammu region.

A total of 27 army personnel, including three officers and five paratroopers, and seven civilians have been killed in nine terror attacks since October 11, 2021 in the twin districts which are also called as Pir-Panjal region.