Before leaving for Jammu on the second leg of his tour to Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the army base hospital in Srinagar on Thursday morning to enquire about the well-being of the three Border Security Force personnel injured in an encounter with militants at a hillock in Dalgate in the city.

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Singh, accompanied by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, appreciated the courage of head constables Hardesh Kumar and Amrit Hojang and constable Nishan Singh, and wished them a speedy recovery, official sources said.

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The security agencies termed the visit a big "morale booster" for the troops engaged in anti-militancy operations.
The three security personnel belonging to 92 battalion of the BSF, a Jammu and Kashmir police constable and a civilian were injured in the gun battle on Wednesday, in which two militants were also killed.