NEW DELHI: In a major breakthrough, the Army’s elite para commandos gunned down three terrorists in an encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday.One of the terrorists is Sulieman alias Asif, who is believed to be the mastermind of the April 22 Pahalgam attack, news agency PTI reported citing officials. The group was killed after the security forces launched a surprise action, codenamed ‘Operation Mahadev.‘The two others were identified as Jibran and Hamza Afghani. Jibran was allegedly involved in the Sonamarg Tunnel attack in October 20204.One M4 carbine rifle, two AK rifles and other munitions were recovered from the site of the encounter.Additional security reinforcements have also been rushed as intelligence inputs suggested the presence of another group of terrorists in the area.The bodies of the slain terrorists were handed over to local police, which helped in the identification process, for legal formalities and final rites as per the standard operating procedure.Inspector General of Police (Kashmir Zone) VK Birdi described Operation Mahadev as a ‘long-drawn operation.’ Earlier, Srinagar-based Chinar Corps in a post on X said three terrorists were killed under the anti-terror operation.