Two militants who killed woman SPO shot dead in J&K (2nd Lead)

Two Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants, who had killed a woman special police officer (SPO) last month, were shot dead in a gunfight with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district on Saturday, police said.

A police statement said top JeM commander Shah Jahan Mir, who was also involved in the killing of four state police personnel last year, was one of the two militants killed after a brief gunfight in the orchards of Gahand village in Shopian.

The other slain militant has been identified as Abid Wagay.

"Both slain militants were locals. They had killed SPO Khushboo Jan in Vehil village of Shopian district on March 16 this year.

"As per our records, Shah Jahan was also involved in snatching of weapons and killing of four police personnel at Arhama Shopian near the petrol pump last year," the police said.

The gunfight broke out when the hiding militants fired on the security forces as they were conducting a cordon and search operation in the area.

--IANS

sq/vd