A Hizbul Mujahideen militant linked to the killing of RSS functionary Chanderkant Sharma and his personal security officer in 2019 was killed in an encounter with security forces on Sunday, police said. An Army jawan and another militant were also killed in the gunfight in Doda district’s Gundana area, they said. Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh, identified one of the slain militants as Tahir Bhat. The AK-47 rifle taken from the SPO 2019 was seized from Bhat, he added. According to officials, the slain militants were hiding in the basement of a three-storey building in Khotra Roti Padarna village, nearly 25 km from Doda town. An operation was launched on Saturday evening based on a tip-off about their location, they said. Contact was established with the duo on Sunday morning when they opened fire on the search party, officials added. IGP Singh said Bhat was active for over a year and was also behind the fabrication of two Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used in an unsuccessful car bomb attack on a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in March, 2019. SOURCE: ENS
