Sopore encounter ends; holed up LeT man killed

The fierce encounter in north Kashmir's Sopore town ended late on Wednesday after security forces gunned down the lone holed up Lashkar-e -Tayiba militant.

An army captain who was critically wounded in the initial firing exchange succumbed to injuries in the hospital late on Tuesday night.

The captain had been shifted to army base hospital in Srinagar in a critical condition on Tuesday evening after he was injured in the exchange of gunfire between the security forces and the holed up militants. Sources said the station house officer was also injured.

Acting on a specific information about the presence of armed militants in Model Town area of Sopore, 22-Rashtriya Rifles unit of the army and Jammu and Kashmir police laid a siege around of the area on Tuesday evening, a police spokesman said in Srinagar.

"The operation was halted for the night to avoid collateral damages, which resumed on Wenesday morning. The operation ended on Wednesday afternoon after the holed up militant was killed," the spokesman said.

Meanwhile security forces used batons and teargas to disperse stone pelting mobs in Sopore town on Wednesday.