Srinagar: A Rashtriya riffles battalion Commanding officer Colonel Ashutosh Sharma and along with a company Commander, two other soldiers and a policeman laid down their lives in a fierce encounter with terrorists at Chanjimulla area of Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Sunday evening.

The two terrorists also killed in the encounter, one of them identified as top LeT Commander Haider, were part of a large group of Pakistani infiltrators. The terrorists has sneaked into Kashmir through the Wadarbala- Rajwara forest in Kupwara last month, said sources. Colonel Sharma and his team reached the site after receiving reports that civilians were being held hostage in a house by terrorists. In the ensuing encounter, some civilians managed to get out while some were extricated by the army.