SRINAGAR: The three youths killed in an anti-terror operation at Lawaypora on Srinagar’s outskirts on December 30 were “active terrorists” and in constant touch with their mentors in Pakistan, IGP (Kashmir Range) Vijay Kumar said on Friday, refuting their kins’ claim that they were shot dead in a “fake encounter”.
Aijaz Maqbool Ganai of Pulwama and Ather Mushtaq Wani and Zubair Ahmad Lone from Shopian were slain by security forces during the course of a two-day encounter. While police identified them as Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, their families accused security forces of stage-managing the operation and claimed the three were “innocent”.
“Whatever their families have claimed so far is baseless and wrong. All three were in touch and travelling together on the day of the encounter. IP addresses recovered from their damaged mobile phones indicated that two of them were talking to people across the border while the third was in touch with top commanders in Pakistan