SRINAGAR: A Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist was killed in a 14-hour-long anti-insurgency operation in Sopore area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday, Kashmir IGP Vijay Kumar said. A search operation was underway in the area till the filing of this report."The slain terrorist, identified as Sajad Ahmad Dar, was active since 2018 and tasked with recruiting local youth for the proscribed outfit. He was wanted by police in numerous cases," Kumar said. Despite the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, hundreds of residents of Sopore’s Zaingeer village thronged Dar’s funeral later in the day. Police have registered a case against the unidentified mourners for violating the lockdown orders and assembling at the graveyard where Dar’s last rites were held.While handing over Dar’s body to his kin, officials had advised them to follow the Covid-19 protocol and stay indoors, and the family had even given in writing that they would abide by the same. However, not only did they turn a deaf ear to the instructions, but were also accompanied by hundreds of co-villagers who gathered at the funeral. The mourners were later dispersed by the police.Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of terrorists in Soppore’s Gulabad area, a joint team of Army’s 22 RR, CRPF’s 179 Bn and J&K Police’s special operations group had launched a cordon-and-search operation there late Tuesday. The security forces had also installed lights in the vicinity to ensure that no terrorist could escape taking advantage of the darkness.Fourteen hours into the exercise, a firefight broke out after holed-up terrorists fired at the search party nearing their hideout. In the ensuing encounter, Dar was killed, IGP Kumar said.