Indian newspapers have reported that Colonel Manpreet Singh, who was killed in a gunbattle with Kashmiri militants in Anantnag on Wednesday, was leading the same military battalion that ‘eliminated’ Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani in 2016.

Tribune India said Manpreet Singh had been serving with the 19 Rashtriya Rifles for five years – spending his first three years as second in command when he was a major and the next two years as commanding officer.

Hindi and Bengali news media outlets in India have claimed that Manpreet was awarded the Sena Medal for killing Wani. While he did receive the Sena Medal in 2021, his direct link with Wani’s death could not be confirmed.

Manpreet was commissioned into the Sikh Light Infantry 17 years ago, according to Tribue India. He was set to retire in four months, according to Times of India.

Meanwhile, India Today has claimed that the Kashmir militant group Resistance Front claimed responsibility for killing Manpreet Sindh, Major Aashih Dhonchak, and DSP Humayun Bhatt.

The news outlet said Resistance Front had state that it was an act of revenge for the killing of their veteran leader in Rawalakot in Pakistani Kashmir.

A man named Riaz Ahmed was gunned down inside a mosque on September 8. His relatives said Riaz, a father of nine children, was an ordinary Kashmiri who had relocated to Azad Kashmir years ago to escape Indian atrocities in the occupied valley.