Srinagar: Three army men who were part of the team that gunned down popular pro-freedom militant commander of the Valley Burhan Wani and his two associates were awarded the Sena Medal on Thursday, a media report said.

The three army men, who belong to Rashtriya Rifles unit, are Major Sandeep Kumar, Captain Manik Sharma and Naik Arvind Singh Chauhan, the report said.

Major Kumar led the 8 July operation following “actionable” intelligence input that Sartaj Aziz and two other militants were hiding in a house in Bumdoora village, the report said.

The village, 18km south-east of Anantnag, was cordoned off but the news of army’s presence had already leaked, the report said, adding that amid protesting crowds, the team stormed into the house where all the militants were killed in the encounter.

It was later discovered that the last militant killed was Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a popular resurgent militant leader in Kashmir who carried a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head.