Operation Mahadev: Pahalgam terror attack mastermind Suleman Shah killed in encounter in Srinagar
New Delhi: Top security authorities said Monday’s encounter in Srinagar killed three terrorists, including Suleman Shah, the mastermind of the Pahalgam terror assault. The Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police conducted the coordinated operation, code-named Operation Mahadev, in the rocky Lidwas region near Dara, near Dachigam National Park.
After some information inputs suggested that there were foreign terrorists in the area, the confrontation started at approximately eleven in the morning. The operation got its name because the battle took place in the thick forest between the Mahadev and Zabarwan peaks.
“After a fierce gunfight, three terrorists have been eliminated. In a formal statement, the Army’s Chinar Corps said that the operation is still ongoing and that further troops and aircraft surveillance had been sent in to assist ground forces. According to sources, Suleman Shah, the mastermind of the Pahalgam incident, was one of the terrorists slain.
However, police said that the operation is still ongoing and that they would only make an official announcement after it is concluded.
“The J&K police, paramilitary, and army are engaged in a firefight (with terrorists) in the upper regions as part of a protracted operation that is currently ongoing. Three corpses are under observation and seem to have been neutralized, according to internal reports. I don’t want to give away too much right now since it’s still an ongoing operation. We will notify you when the moment is right.
Identification and all of that stuff will take some time. IGP Kashmir Vidhi Kumar Birdi informed the reporters, “The (security) parties are still inside.”
Operation Mahadev
The terrorists may have moved to the Dachigam area, which is about 20 kilometers from Srinagar’s city center, according to intelligence inputs over the past month. Security forces had begun a massive operation to find the perpetrators of the Pahalgam attack, which claimed 26 lives.
On Monday morning, the security forces began Operation Mahadev, an anti-militancy operation in the Mulnar neighborhood of Harwan, based on information. While security personnel searched the area, two rounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance. The three terrorists were killed as a result of the rapid reinforcements and heightened combing operations.