Steel bullets used in Anantnag attack recovered from slain Jaish militants

Srinagar, July 30 (IANS) Police said on Tuesday that steel bullets used in the Anantnag attack of June 12 by militants were also recovered from the possession of the slain Jaish militant commander and his associate during the gunfight on Tuesday.

Five CRPF troopers were killed and station house officer (SHO) Arshad Khan was fatally injured in the militant attack in Anantnag town on June 12.

Security forces' top brass had found that the bullets used by militants in that attack were steel-coated bullets those could pierce bulletproof jackets and headgear used by the security forces.

It was because of this revelation that the security forces had ordered a total review of the bulletproof equipment used by the forces during anti-militancy operations.

The killing of the top Jaish commander and the recovery of steel bullets from his possession has confirmed the intelligence reports that he was involved in the June 12 attack.

A police spokesman said, "Killing of Fayaz Panzoo is a big success. He was among the very few surviving commanders left in Jaish.

Two militants, including a top commander of Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit, were on Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir. The slain commander was involved in the June 12 attack at Anantnag where in five CRPF men were killed and a police officer injured who later succumbed.

The encounter started after a specific input that militants were hiding in a house at Wubzan area of Bijbehara in South Kashmir's Anantnag district.

As the security forces zeroed in on the house, the militants fired indiscriminately, triggering a gunbattle. In the ensuing encounter, two militants were killed.