After neutralising  a large number of terrorist commanders in a series of anti-terrorist operations across the Kashmir valley, the security forces in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir are now waking up to a new challenge of dealing with women overground workers trained by the terror outfits to target the security forces.

The recent incident involving a woman overground worker (OGW) hurling a petrol bomb at security forces in Sopore, and a journalist-turned terrorist joining the ranks of a Pakistan-based terror outfit has sent alarm bells ringing in the security apparatus.

The local police teams in Sopore have identified the woman OGW who hurled the petrol bomb at CRPF personnel late on Tuesday.

The CCTV footage came in handy for the security personnel to identify the woman OGW who is absconding.

The CCTV footage, which went viral on various social media platforms, shows a woman, clad in a traditional burqa, stopped near a CRPF picket in the main chowk area of Sopore near an SBI branch and hurled a petrol bomb towards them around 7 pm.

On Wednesday, Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar told a national news agency in Srinagar, “The woman who hurled a bomb at the CRPF bunker in Sopore yesterday has been identified”. She will be arrested soon, he added.

Last year the security forces faced numerous challenges exposing the terror modules of “hybrid” terrorists. Hybrid terrorist is the term coined for those who have had no previous record of any involvement in terror crimes.

 These “hybrid” terrorists remained at the forefront of targeted strikes on members of the minority community and daily wage labourers from outside the Kashmir valley.

Meanwhile, the security forces on Wednesday morning identified the bodies of two LeT terrorists recovered from the encounter site in the Rainawari area of Srinagar.

According to a police spokesman, one of the terrorists, identified as Rayees Ahmad Bhat, turned out to be a former journalist who ran an online news portal “Valley News Service” in Anantnag.

According to police, Bhat had joined the terrorist ranks of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba in August last year and was placed in “C” category in the terrorists’ list of J&K Police.

 In a statement, the police said two FIRs were already registered against him for terror crimes.

The official Twitter handle of Kashmir Zone Police tweeted, “One of the killed categorized local terrorists of proscribed terror outfit LeT was carrying Identity Card (ID) of media. It indicates a clear case of misuse of media.”

Another terrorist killed in the encounter has been identified as Hilal Ahmad Rahm, a resident of Bijbehara. Hilal was also a ‘C’ category terrorist.

Kumar said that both were involved in several recent terror crimes, including civilian killings.

In another important development, the Jammu & Kashmir Government on Wednesday terminated five Government employees under provision 311(2)(C) of the Constitution for having terror links.

Last year, the UT administration had sent out a stern message to the employees by cracking the whip against those who were found to be hand in glove with the terror outfits.

In July 2021, the services of at least 11 employees, including two sons of the Hizbul Mujahideen chief, two policemen were terminated for their alleged links with the terrorist outfits. Later in September 2021, the services of six employees, including two police constables, were terminated for their alleged links with terror organizations.

Earlier in April-May, the administration had dismissed seven employees, including DSP Davinder Singh.