AMN / SRINAGAR

Rich tributes were paid to the three special police officers Nisar Ahmad, Firdous Ahmad and Kuldeep Singh, at the District Police Lines at Shopian today.

They were abducted and killed by terrorists. Civil and Police officers led by IGP Kashmir S.P Pani laid floral wreaths after paying rich tributes to the slain policemen.

The state police said complicity of Hizbul Mujahideen and LeT terrorist outfits has been established in the abduction and subsequent killing of the three policemen.

A police spokesman said further investigation is on to identify the culprits.

Elsewhere in Bandipore district, with the killing of three more terrorists today in an encounter with the security forces in Shokbaba Sumlar area, the death toll of terrorists has risen to five.

Initially, two terrorists were killed in the encounter which began yesterday.

A defence spokesman said that weapons and warlike stores were recovered from the encounter site. He said the search operation is in progress.