When Defence Minister Rajnath Singh opened the debate on Operation Sindoor in the Rajya Sabha, the security agencies scored a big win over the Pakistani terrorists when they gunned down three terrorists in an encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday. The killed militants were found to consist of Suleiman Shah, who was reported to be the mastermind of the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that took away the lives of 26 innocent people. The operation, which was basically conducted on a particular intelligence input, is codenamed Operation Mahadev and was done in the Mulnar locality of Harwan.
Suleiman Shah was another instrumental figure of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who served as a Pakistan Army officer and was notoriously referred to using a dummy name, Hashim Moosa. After the Pahalgam attack, he was labelled one of the most wanted terrorists in the region and the Jammu and Kashmir Police had offered a reward of 20 lakh rupees on his head. Security officials confirmed that the killing of Shah is a huge dent in transnational terror networks in the valley.
The other two terrorists who died in the fight were identified to be Abu Hamza and Yasir. Intelligence organisations believe that Yasir, similarly to Shah, participated in the Pahalgam attack. These three were all tagged as high-value targets, which were thought to be foreign nationals.
The combined operation was that of the armed forces of India, the Central Railway Police Force (CRPF), and the Police of Jammu and Kashmir. Closing in on tip-off information, security personnel encircled the Mulnar locality, and a pitched gun-battle ensued. After the operation, a large force has been used and extensive search and combing action is in progress so that no other threat is left behind in the area.
The operation has been termed by officials as a great breakthrough during the continuous surge of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, especially after the attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir began operating as a major sweep against militancy in its aftermath, amidst which shockwaves were felt by the nation, and a tightening grip was placed on anti-terrorism activities in the State.
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