Senior police official, army jawan, three JeM militants killed during encounter in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Operations Aman Thakur, an army jawan and three Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) militants were killed  in an ongoing encounter in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, police officials said. The encounter took place in Turigam area of Kulgam district after the police got an intelligence input about the presence of a group of terrorists in the area. “The approaching police party was fired upon, in which Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Aman Thakur got seriously injured in the neck. The officer succumbed to his injuries when he was being flown to the army hospital,” the officials said. [caption id=“attachment_5270681” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. PTI[/caption] The police officials also informed that an army major and two soldiers were also injured in the encounter, adding that a non-commissioned officer, Havaldar Sombir, succumbed to his injuries subsequently. The other injured persons, including the major, are out of danger. However, the identity of the three terrorists killed in the encounter is yet to be ascertained. #UPDATE: Two Army personnel including a Major injured in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Tarigam, Kulgam. #JammuAndKashmir https://t.co/CIDtAWoWr2

#UPDATE: Two Army personnel including a Major injured in an encounter between security forces and terrorists in Tarigam, Kulgam. #JammuAndKashmir https://t.co/CIDtAWoWr2

— ANI (@ANI) February 24, 2019

“Deputy Superintendent of Police Aman Thakur was also killed in the exchange of fire,” they said. A 2011-batch Jammu and Kashmir Police Services officer and a resident of Doda district in the Jammu region, Thakur was leading the police team from the front in the encounter with JeM terrorists. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Dilbagh Singh said, “It is an unfortunate incident, in which we have lost a brave officer. He was a fighter and he led Sunday’s operation himself.” Thakur was posted as the DySP (operation) in Kulgam, a terrorist-infested area of south Kashmir, two years ago and had successfully carried out anti-terror operations in the area. He was awarded the DGP’s Commendation Medal and Certificate for his exemplary service only in January. “Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation in the Turigam area of Kulgam district following information about presence of some militants there,” a police official said. The police official also said that the militants opened fire on security forces, who retaliated, triggering a gun-battle. With inputs from PTI