'He is intrigued by the intractability of Kashmir issue. With his interest in dealmaking and peacebrokering, he sees it as an exciting challenge to tackle.'
Bhat's wife and the two children were in a state of shock as relatives and neighbours, who rushed there, were seen consoling them.
While two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were killed in Shopian district, two Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind ultras were gunned down in Pulwama district in south Kashmir.
The nomination papers of 35 candidates including that of jailed separatist Sarjan Barkati were on Wednesday rejected during scrutiny for the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir, leaving 244 contestants in the fray.
Terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir on Saturday night, killing a former sarpanch in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag, two days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Baramulla.
Seven terrorists, including terror outfit Ansar Ghazwatul Hind chief Imtiaz Ahmad Shah, were gunned down by security forces in two encounters in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian and Pulwama districts, police said on Friday.
Police and security forces neutralised an 'A+' categorised terrorist of proscribed terror outfit HM, a spokesperson of the Jammu and Kashmir police said
A top Hizbul Mujaheedin commander and a foreign terrorist were killed in a fierce gunfight near Srinagar on Friday evening. A senior police officer said that troops of 44 Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group (SOG) of the state police jointly surrounded a forest area near Tharina village in south Kashmir'a Shopian district, 70 kms from Srinagar.
The search operation turned into an encounter after the terrorists fired upon the security forces who retaliated, he said.
Puran Krishan Bhat was fired upon by terrorists near his residence in the Chowdhary Gund area of south Kashmir's Shopian district this afternoon, resulting in his death.
Terrorist Adil Wani's father and three brothers were arrested for sheltering him.
Two soldiers who were critically wounded in Thursday's terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Gulmarg succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll in the ambush to four.
Major Kamlesh Pandey and Sepoy Tanzin Chhultim died in hospital.
They said the terrorists opened fire on the vehicle at Botapathri near Nagin post.
A local 'hybrid terrorist' of proscribed outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was arrested for the attack during a search and cordon operation, police said.
The army said on Friday it has completed the Summary of Evidence against two of its men involved in July's Amshipura encounter in Shopian district.
Terrorists carried out three attacks in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday, leaving one CRPF personnel dead and four persons, including two workers from Bihar and a Kashmiri Pandit, injured, officials said.
An official said the slain duo were involved in killing civilians, including a government employee.
The army has begun its probe and recorded statements in connection with last month's encounter in Shopian area of South Kashmir after families in Rajouri area of Jammu region filed a complaint with the Jammu and Kashmir police about its members missing from the same region.
Satish Kumar Singh, a Rajput, was shot by terrorists in Kakran area of the south Kashmir district at around 7.30 pm.
A terrorist belonging to the Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK) outfit, who was involved in the killing of a police officer, was killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag, police said on Sunday.
Asked whether the three men were indeed labourers, as claimed by their families, and not involved in terrorist activities, the J-K Police said it is a matter of further investigation. On July 18, the Army had claimed three terrorists were killed in Amshipura village in the higher reaches of south Kashmir's Shopian.
A Lashkar-e-Toiba militant involved in the killing of a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur recently was among two terrorists killed, while three security personnel were injured in an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, officials said.
There are always attempts from across the border to push in more terrorists before the onset of winter and closure of tracks due to heavy snowfall, but the security forces are alert and would foil any infiltration bids, Border Security Force Director General Nitin Agrawal said in Srinagar Thursday.
Three Al-Badr terrorists were killed while one surrendered before security forces in an encounter in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, the police said.
Relatives of the three youths, belonging to Dhar Sakri village in Kotranka of Rajouri area in Poonch, had lodged a written missing persons report in the local police station after they lost contact with them on July 17. The three were working as labourers in apple and walnut orchards in Amshipura.
Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar has directed personnel to apprehend those responsible for the attack as soon as possible.
This is the third major encounter in Shopian in four days.
The terrorists also torched two of the trucks.
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti said she was deeply distressed by the killing of 'civilians' in 'crossfire'.
The PDP and the NC condemned the killing of the special police officer.
Four terrorists were killed on Friday in an encounter with security forces, while another surrendered in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
All the victims hailed from Murshidabad district of West Bengal, the police said.
Two militants of Hizbul Mujaheedin outfit were killed in over 30-hour-long fierce gunfight in south Kashmir Shopian district on Wednesday evening.
On May 18, 2024 night, terrorists struck at two places in Kashmir killing a former sarpanch, Aijaz Sheikh in Shopian and injuring a tourist couple from Rajasthan in Anantnag.
Curfew continued for third day on Tuesday in parts of Shopian district in south Kashmir following killing of four persons in a firing incident on Saturday, the police said.
The terrorists' action came on a day when the NIA arrested the second son of globally wanted terrorist Syed Salahuddin.
The three youths, Mohammad Imtiyaz and Ibrar Ahmed, residents of Kathuni mohalla of Dharsakri village of Rajouri, and Mohammad Ibrar, a resident of Tarkassi village of Rajouri, had left their homes on the pretext of working as labourers in Shopian and went out of contact with their families on July 17.
Among those abducted included brother of a deputy superintendent of police.
They ultras were wanted for their complicity in a series of terror crimes.
