SRINAGAR: Three recently recruited militants of Albadar militant outfit were killed and another surrendered before troops during the early morning gunfight in Shopian in south Kashmir on Thursday, police said.
A police spokesman said four newly recruited militants of Abadar were trapped in a cordon laid by joint party of police, CRPF and army at Kanigam area of Shopian district in the early hours today.
He said police and security forces observed maximum restraint and tried their best to persuade the holed up militants to surrender.
An army official said multiple appeals for surrender were made by police and family members of the trapped militants.
“However, the holed-up militants turned down the surrender offer. They fired and lobbed grenades at the joint search party. The forces retaliated leading to an encounter,” the police spokesman said.
He said in the ensuing gunfight, three militants were killed and one militant Tauseef Ahmad surrendered before the troops.
The identity of three slain militants was being ascertained, police said. An army official said four pistols were recovered from the encounter site