3 terrorists killed in encounter near J-K's Srinagar

Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], December 30 (ANI): Three terrorists were killed in an encounter in Hokersar area near Srinagar on Wednesday, police said.
An operation was launched by security forces on December 29 near Hokersar where the terrorists hurled a grenade on the searching party and fired indiscriminately on troops. However, after some hours the operation was suspended due to darkness but the cordon remained intact throughout night.
The operation resumed on Wednesday morning and terrorists were eliminated.
"The operation ended over at 11:30 hours in which all the three hiding terrorists were killed. Upon their search, arms (One AK 47 rifle and two pistols) and ammunition and other incriminating material along with some documents were recovered," according to a release by Jammu and Kashmir Police.
The deceased have been identified as Ajaz Maqbool Ganie, Ather Mushtaq and Zubair Lone, all were natives of Jammu and Kashmir.
A case under relevant sections of law has been registered and an investigation has been initiated.
"It is pertinent to mention that a few terror incidents have occurred in this area recently and reportedly these terrorists have also come from South Kashmir to target convey of security forces," read the release.
"Although the three killed terrorists in today's encounter were not mentioned in our list of terrorists, yet two of them are hardcore associates of terrorists (OGWs)," it said.
The police said that one of the two is relative of top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Rayees Kachroo who was killed in 2017.
"Reportedly, third might have joined very recently. Generally, parents don't have an idea about the activities of their wards. Several OGWs after committing terror crimes like grenade throwing and pistol shooting etc stay normally with their family. For instance, one student from Pulwama who was taking coaching in Srinagar was caught for lobbying a grenade with the help of CCTV's footage. His parents were totally unaware about his terrorist activities," the police said. (ANI)