Bodies of LeT militant Mattoo, 2 others recovered from encounter site in Kashmir

Besides 24-year-old Mattoo alias 'Jana', the other two bodies were of 18-year-old Adil Mushtaq Mir alias 'Nana' and 20-year-old Nisar Ahmad Wani. All three belong to the banned terror outfit Lashkar.

Hailing from Khudwani village of Kulgam, 24-year-old Mattoo joined militancy in June 2015. He had a meteoric rise within the Lashkar group and was appointed commander for South Kashmir after he gunned down two policemen in broad daylight at Anantnag bus stand in June last year.

While Mir hailed from Frasbal area of Pampore, Wani was from Heff Shremal of Shopian district. Both had joined militancy after the death of Hizbul Mujahideen poster boy Burhan Wani last year.

Police had laid a cordon around a house in Malik Mohalla in Arwani village at 8 AM yesterday following an intelligence tip off about the presence of three militants there. The first engagement with terrorists took place at 10 AM after which additional forces were rushed to the spot.

By late afternoon, firing had stopped but two houses had caught fire during the encounter. After the fire tenders doused the raging flames, police and other security forces, which were already embattled by stone pelters, began a search operation in the rubble.

The security forces were also fired upon from the crowd that was indulging in stone pelting, police said, adding that the Lashkar-e-Taiba militants were desperate to save Mattoo.

The serach operation was also hampered after six policemen including an officer Feroz Ahmed Dar were gunned down at Achabal area, 20 km south of the encounter site. This act was a revenge by Lashkar-e-Taiba for killing of Mattoo and two others.

During yesterday's encounter, two civilians were also killed. In the morning itself, a civilian identified as Mohammad Ashraf Khar, 34, was killed in the crossfire between the forces and the militants.

Khar, a resident of Kharpora Arwani area, was rushed to the district hospital at Bijbehara where he was declared brought dead, police said.

Ahsan Mushtaq, 15, was also killed after he was hit by bullets near the site of the encounter, the police said.