The formal notification of handing over the case to the NIA is expected to be issued by the ministry soon, an official privy to the development said.
"As the troops moved in, they came under heavy fire from the militants hiding in a house. Reinforcements were immediately rushed to the area and the house was surrounded," a senior police officer said in Srinagar.
Lone and two others were identified by police as the masterminds behind the grenade attack.
During the interrogation, the militants confessed their involvement in the crime, he added.
Ignoring the separatists' call to shun the vote, electors in the five districts emulated the trend seen in the first phase by turning up at polling booths in large numbers at 8 am, the scheduled start of voting. It turned out to be an impressive 71.28 per cent turnout in the second phase.
The encounter broke out as security forces were conducting search operations in Puchal area of Awantipora and hots were heard from nearby Goripora village, an official said.
Militants on Tuesday night gunned down Ghulam Hassan Laway, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) activist, inside his house at Chowalgam in Anantnag district, official sources said.
The CM apprised the home minister about the steps taken to maintain peace in the Kashmir Valley
Ahead of the Parliament session, beginning Monday, the government is apparently aiming to build a consensus to deal with its biggest neighbour as well on Kashmir issue.
Local people, however, rushed to their rescue and informed the police, he said.
The Jammu and Kashmir government on Thursday ordered a magisterial probe into the killing of three persons in army firing at Qazigund
The bodies of the three militants were recovered from the debris of the house at Arwani in Bijbehara area on Friday morning after security forces blew up the building using explosives, a police official said.
There's a virtual blackout in the Valley with few workable mobile phones and internet connections and prohibitory orders in place.
Curfew continued in parts of Srinagar on Saturday in view of the separatists' call for occupying Lal Chowk and Airport Road here while curfew-like restrictions remained in force in rest of Kashmir even as normal life remained paralysed for the 57th day.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Curfew remained in force for the second day today in major towns of South Kashmir after five persons were killed in firing by security forces in Shopian.
Militants snatched an automatic rifle along with a magazine from a cop and decamped with it in south Kashmir Pulwama town on Tuesday afternoon.
Wani laid down his life during an anti-terror operation at Shopian in Kashmir in November last year.
The target was a CRPF patrol party. The incident occurred in Anantnag district.
A total of 146 militancy-related incidents took place between January 15, 2015 to January 15, 2016, leaving 169 people -- 108 militants, 39 security personnel and 22 civilians -- dead. A total of 181 incidents of border firing were reported during the same period in the state which left 22 persons including eight security personnel dead and 75 others, including 13 security men injured
A government middle school in Shopian's Padarpora was set ablaze by unidentified people and on Sunday. The government high school in Pulwama was razed to the ground in a similar manner.
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
A police official said the curbs have been imposed to maintain law and order in view of the separatists call for a march to the three districts of Baramulla, Pulwama and Srinagar.
Even as India battles the COVID-19 threat on a war footing, it cannot lose sight of the threat building up in Kashmir, cautions Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
The necessary formalities were being completed in Jammu as well as in the national capital before the probe agency, which has been credited with breaking the nexus between stone-pelters and separatists in Jammu and Kashmir, takes over the case, officials said.
The cash transactions have been stopped at the branches belonging to the Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Ellaquai Dehati Bank.
The operations have been launched in six villages falling under Zainapora area in Shopian after security forces received information about movement of militants there
'Fighting terrorism and doing away with the safe shelters, sanctuaries, and safe havens will be an important part of our cooperation.'
A 25-year-old youngster was killed and eight others wounded when security forces opened fire on protestors in south Kashmir Gagran village on Wednesday afternoon prompting the authorities to reimpose curfew in Shopian town and adjacent areas.
No area in Kashmir was under curfew on Tuesday, but restrictions on the assembly of people are in place in many parts of the Valley as a precautionary measure, a police official said in Srinagar.
Curfew was on Sunday lifted from all parts of Kashmir but normal life in the Valley remained affected due to the strike call given by hardline Hurriyat Conference to protest against the firing incident in Ramban district that left four persons dead.
Normal life remained crippled due to curfew and the shutdown call by separatists groups.
The security forces have maintained a tight cordon around the terrorists to prevent them from escaping.
The DGP said Jatt's killing, along with one of his associates, was a big success for the security forces.
Official sources said the first one was the truck driver who drove them to Samroli in Udhampur from Kulgam and other one was a bakery owner at Pulwama.
In yet another audacious move, the banned Hizbul Mujahideen has uploaded a video of its militants training in army fatigues with assault rifles and cracking jokes on a social networking site, seen as a "psychological warfare" against the security forces.
'The army is using its might to teach them a lesson'
'Respect the pledges you have made to the people of Kashmir.' 'Jammu and Kashmir is not like any other state of the country.'
