Ex-journalist among 2 terrorists killed in Srinagar encounter

Police said Rayees Ahmad Bhat had been a journalist previously running an online news portal while Hilal Ahmad Rah, a categorised terrorist, belonged to Bijbehara in South Kashmir.

Srinagar: Two terrorists killed in an encounter between terrorists and security forces at Rainawari area in Central Kashmir’s Srinagar district have been identified as Rayees Ahmad Bhat and Hilal Ahmad Rah, officials said on Wednesday.

Police said Rayees Ahmad Bhat had been a journalist previously running an online news portal while Hilal Ahmad Rah, a categorised terrorist, belonged to Bijbehara in South Kashmir.

“Killed terrorist (Rayees Ah Bhat) was earlier a journalist and was running online news portal ‘Valley News Service’ in Anantnag. Joined terrorist ranks in August 2021 and was categorised ‘C’ in our list. Two FIRs were registered against him for terror crimes,” police said.

“Second killed terrorist has been identified as Hilal Ah Rah of Bijbehara, a ‘C’ categorised terrorist.”

Earlier the firefight between terrorists and security forces took place after a joint team of the police and the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation on the basis of specific information about presence of terrorists.

As the security forces zeroed in on the spot where terrorists were hiding they came under a heavy volume of fire that triggered the encounter.