A Lashkar-e-Taiba militant was killed in an encounter by security forces on Saturday morning in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. The militant, identified as Ishfaq Padder, was involved in the abduction and murder of Umer Fayaz, a lieutenant-rank Army officer in Shopian district in May this year, ANI reported.

A joint team of 62 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Operations Group had launched an ambush to trap Padder based on specific inputs. The deputy inspector general of police, south Kashmir range, said the operation by security forces was over.

Padder’s killing comes hours after a police officer was killed in Srinagar, when LeT operatives shot at a police bus. Three police personnel were injured in the attack.

22-year-old Fayaz, posted in Jammu’s Akhnoor region, had been shot dead by militants in Harmen area of Shopian on May 10, hours after he was abducted from Batpura village.

Clashes between protestors, police

Clashes were reported from Anantnag, Srinagar and Sopore on Saturday after Eid prayers. The police used tear gas to disperse crowd at some of these places, The Hindu reported. On Friday, state police had put local leaders Yasin Malik, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq under house arrest.