Amidst a spate of targeted killings in Kashmir, three local Kashmiri terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit were killed on Sunday in an overnight encounter with security forces at Drabgam in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

One of the killed terrorists was involved in gunning down a Special Police Officer (SPO) last month, said IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar.

Vijay Kumar said that all three terrorists were locals and linked to Pakistan-based terror outfit LeT. One terrorist has been identified as Junaid Sheergojri who was involved in the killing of SPO Reyaz Ahmed Thoker on 13 May at his home in Gudoora village in Pulwama.

The other two terrorists killed in the encounter have been identified as Fazil Nazir Bhat and Irfan Ahmed Malik, both residents of Pulwama district. Incriminating materials, arms and ammunition including two AK 47 rifles and one pistol have been recovered, police added.

In another incident, vehicular traffic on the strategic Srinagar–Baramulla highway was again suspended today when an unclaimed bag was found at Rawalpora.

Meanwhile, the Administrative Council (AC), which met in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, approved the proposal of Home Department to create new posts under different categories for establishment of State Investigation Agency (SIA) in Jammu and Kashmir.

Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to the Lieutenant Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, Chief Secretary, and Nitishwar Kumar, Principal Secretary to the Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.

In terms of territorial division of jurisdiction of the State Investigation Agency, there will be two divisions, one each for Jammu and Kashmir provinces. Each province will be headed by one SSP rank officer.

The Administrative Council approved creation of 252 posts in different categories including Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Senior Superintendents of Police (SSP), Superintendents of Police (SP), Deputy Director of Prosecution (DDP), Chief Prosecution Officers (CPO), Deputy Superintendents of Police (Dy.SP), Senior Prosecution Officers (Sr.PO), Inspectors, and Sub-Inspectors (SI) among others.

The State Investigation Agency (SIA) will be the Nodal Agency for coordinating with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and other central agencies, with the mandate to take such measures as may be necessary for speedy and effective investigation and prosecution of terrorism-related cases.