The top-ranking BSF officer was killed when his jeep was blown up by an improvised explosive device close to the international border with Pakistan in the Samba sector on Monday morning.
DIG O.P. Tanvaar had been heading for the Ramgarh sector to visit the site of an encounter between BSF troopers and infiltrators when his vehicle was hit by a powerful improvised explosive device (IED), reports said.
Three other BSF personnel were injured in the explosion.
Official sources said that preliminary investigations indicated the IED to have been planted by militants close the dividing line and then triggered off by remote control from across the border.
Top police and BSF officers rushed to the spot after the incident, and the area was sealed off for searches.
Two soldiers and a militant were killed in the Keran sector of the Kupwara district as troopers sought to plug an infiltration bid across the LoC on Sunday night, reports said.
Fighting had broken out when the infiltrators opened heavy fire on troops who were chasing them with searchlights after detecting suspicious movement.
The exchange of fire lasting till daybreak left two soldiers and one militant dead, and the area has been sealed off by the army for searches.
The defence spokesman in Srinagar, Col J.S. Brar, said that fighting was still on, but bad weather had hampered communication with the troops involved in the operation.
Col Brar said that the battle was on very close to the Line of Control, and a number of militants could still be hiding in the area.
The officer, however, denied exact knowledge of the number of militants suspected to be caught in the forces cordon.
In another encounter, the army and the forces killed a district commander of the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen after a day long exchange of fire in a Pulwama village today.
The Hizb commander, Abdul Rahman Gosari, and his associate were said to have opened fire when troops of the RR, CRPF personnel and the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the state police surrounded the house the two were holed up in the Sangroni village.
The police said that the two militants had been asked to surrender, but they launched an attack, leading to a gun battle that was on till late in the evening.
The army has confirmed the killing of one militant, saying that the fighting was still on.
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