He said the search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired at the security forces, who retaliated.
Satish Kumar Singh, a Rajput, was shot by terrorists in Kakran area of the south Kashmir district at around 7.30 pm.
A massive controversy is raging in Jammu and Kashmir after a plaque with the Ashoka emblem was vandalised in the Hazratbal shrine as parties on Saturday accused Waqf Board chief Darakshan Andrabi of hurting religious sentiments by using the national emblem in the mosque and demanded registration of a criminal case and her immediate removal.
Bookstore owners were cautioned against keeping or distributing the books. Police personnel briefed the bookstore owners about the legal consequences of violating the ban.
After record rains wreaked havoc in Jammu and Kashmir over the past two days, the death toll in related incidents rose to 41, most of them victims of the landslide on a Vaishno Devi pilgrimage route, while there was some let-up in the showers on Wednesday, allowing relief efforts to pick up pace.
A police spokesman said based on specific input regarding the presence of terrorists in the Mirhama area of Kulgam in south Kashmir, a cordon and search operation was launched by the security forces there.
Authorities in Kashmir have launched a massive crackdown on terrorists and their sympathisers in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, razing homes of the ultras, raiding their safe havens and detaining hundreds of overground workers for questioning, officials said on Saturday.
It was also revealed that Bashir motivated two youngsters and made them to join the terrorist ranks.
The usual rush of devotees was missing this year, presumably due to the Pahalgam terror attack and the military action between India and Pakistan following it.
The gunfights broke out in Goplapora and Pombay areas of the South Kashmir district. Two terrorists each were killed in the twin encounters, a police official said.
The assailants fired upon Javeed Ahmad Dar near his residence at Brazloo Jageer area of the south Kashmir district at around 4.30 pm, officials said.
The rescued police personnel were shifted to hospital where their condition is stated to be stable.
'I am committing suicide because I was subject to torture and humiliation in the police station.'
A soldier of the special forces of the army was killed in an encounter between security forces and terrorists following a search operation in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district on Thursday, officials said. The firing took place in the Dudu-Basantgarh area during a cordon and search operation that was launched based on information about the presence of terrorists. The deceased soldier has been identified as Havaldar Jhantu Ali Sheikh of 6 Para of the Special Forces. The operation was still underway when the last reports came in from the spot, they added. Four suspects were also picked up for the area for questioning. This is the third encounter between terrorists and security forces in Jammu in the past over 24 hours.
The spokesman said it was learnt that an active terrorist of Hizbul, Farooq Ahmad Bhat, had received directions from terror handlers based in Pakistan to target the members of Panchayati Raj Institutions in Kulgam.
Zeenat, considered as an improvised explosive device (IED) expert, was earlier associated with another terror group Hizbul Mujahideen.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has started interviewing eyewitnesses, including tourists, in connection with the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam, south Kashmir. The attack, carried out by terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed the lives of 26 people on April 22. Initial investigations suggest that five to seven terrorists were involved, aided by local militants trained in Pakistan. Security forces are conducting massive operations to hunt down the terrorists in the dense jungles of the Pir Panjal range.
One policeman has been killed and five others have been injured after terrorists attacked a police station in the Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The gunfight is going on and further details were awaited.
"The search operation was launched on specific information about presence of a group of militants inside a house in the village," the officer said.
Militants shot at and killed a trooper of the Territorial Army in southern Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday afternoon.
The operation was in progress when reports last came in.
Unidentified gunmen barged into the bank branch at Yaripora and looted Rs 65,000 in cash at gunpoint.
At least four terrorists were killed and two soldiers laid down their lives in twin encounters in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday, officials said.
The terrorists have been identified as Raqib Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Shiganpora in Kulgam, and Pakistani nationals Waleed and Numan, a police spokesman said.
A senior police officer said a group of heavily armed militants opened indiscriminate fire at a police vehicle in Bongam Qazigund of Kulgam district.
Constable Mudasir Ahmad became the second policeman to die in the violent clashes that erupted in the Valley following killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani.
The terrorists ambushed the police team which had gone to Mir Bazaar area to investigate a road accident case.
The Jammu and Kashmir police questioned a dozen of persons and examined the call details of army jawan Javaid Ahmad Wani who went missing a couple of days ago from his native Kulgam district while on leave, officials said on Monday.
Security forces had launched a cordon-and-search operation in Nehama village of Kulgam following information about the presence of terrorists in the area on Thursday, the officials said.
22-year-old Majid, who hails from Suchi village of Kulgam district, was identified by police with the help of some locals as well as the driver of the treasury van that came under Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists' attack on May 1 in Kulgam.
Before the issuance of the proclamation orders, the court had issued open-ended non-bailable warrants against all five, he added.
'We want to ensure that no government in J&K will be formed without our support.'
One of the slain terrorists was involved in the killing of police constable Reyaz Ahmad earlier this month, a police spokesman said.
The police attached the residential house of Sanaullah Mir at Turigam in Kulgam after obtaining legal sanction from the competent authorities (divisional commissioner, Kashmir), a spokesman said.
The attack, which claimed the lives of seven individuals, including a local doctor and two labourers from Bihar, has raised concerns about the unreported trend of local youths joining terrorist groups in Kashmir during this period.
He was arrested and during questioning, he confessed to his involvement in the labourer's killing.
The move comes after terrorists gunned down two labourers and critically wounded another one in Kulgam in South Kashmir on Sunday evening.
One civilian and two militants were killed in a nightlong gunfight in south Kashmir Kulgam district.
Laway is named in two FIRs registered at Damhal Hanjipora Police Station. He is accused of instigating a mob on July 9, 2016 -- a day after Hizbul Mujahideen militant commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter -- to cause damage and destruction to government property, the officials said.
