NEW DELHI: Security forces on Wednesday seized a massive cache of weapons and ammunition, including rifles, bullets and grenades in J&K's Shopian, a day after three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists were gunned down in encounter under Operation Keller .
The recovered arms are believed to have belonged to the trio neutralised on Tuesday during a joint operation by the Army and paramilitary forces in the dense forests of Shoekal Keller.
The slain terrorists were linked to Pakistan-backed banned outfit LeT. Two of them — Shahid Kuttay and Adnan Shafi Dar — were locals from Shopian. Their family homes had been demolished after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The identity of the third terrorist is yet to be confirmed.
While investigators are yet to establish a direct link between the trio and the Pahalgam massacre, police records show Kuttay had been an active terrorist since March 2023 and was involved in multiple attacks, including the April 8 shooting at Danish Resort in Shopian, which left two German tourists and their driver injured.
Dar, who joined LeT in October 2024, killed a migrant labourer in Shopian’s Wachi the same day he joined the group, police said.
Posters in Urdu have appeared across Shopian offering a reward of Rs 20 lakh for leads on suspects involved in the Pahalgam killings. One reads: “Those who killed innocents do not have a place in our country.”
Operation Keller was launched following intelligence inputs from Rashtriya Rifles about the presence of armed terrorists in the area. The encounter marks Kashmir’s second major counterterrorism success this year, following the March 16 killing of a Pakistani terrorist in Handwara.
Security forces remain on high alert amid a temporary pause in Indo-Pak hostilities that followed India’s May 7 airstrikes on nine terror launchpads in PoK under Operation Sindoor.
The recovered arms are believed to have belonged to the trio neutralised on Tuesday during a joint operation by the Army and paramilitary forces in the dense forests of Shoekal Keller.
#WATCH | J&K: Three Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists killed in an encounter with security forces in Shukroo forest area of Keller in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on May 13. Visuals of the massive cache of arms and ammunition recovered in the operation. #OperationKeller pic.twitter.com/58fTwm7xYE
— ANI (@ANI) May 14, 2025
The slain terrorists were linked to Pakistan-backed banned outfit LeT. Two of them — Shahid Kuttay and Adnan Shafi Dar — were locals from Shopian. Their family homes had been demolished after the April 22 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The identity of the third terrorist is yet to be confirmed.
While investigators are yet to establish a direct link between the trio and the Pahalgam massacre, police records show Kuttay had been an active terrorist since March 2023 and was involved in multiple attacks, including the April 8 shooting at Danish Resort in Shopian, which left two German tourists and their driver injured.
Dar, who joined LeT in October 2024, killed a migrant labourer in Shopian’s Wachi the same day he joined the group, police said.
Posters in Urdu have appeared across Shopian offering a reward of Rs 20 lakh for leads on suspects involved in the Pahalgam killings. One reads: “Those who killed innocents do not have a place in our country.”
Operation Keller was launched following intelligence inputs from Rashtriya Rifles about the presence of armed terrorists in the area. The encounter marks Kashmir’s second major counterterrorism success this year, following the March 16 killing of a Pakistani terrorist in Handwara.
Security forces remain on high alert amid a temporary pause in Indo-Pak hostilities that followed India’s May 7 airstrikes on nine terror launchpads in PoK under Operation Sindoor.
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