3 LeT militants killed in Valley
J&K police said the militants were planning a major terror strike in Srinagar
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF personnel foiled a possible terror strike killing three Lashker-e-Tayyaba militants in the outskirts of the city on Saturday morning after a fourhour-long operation, officials said. Four security personnel were injured in the gunfight but all of them are stated to be stable.
Three militants were killed in an eight hour long gun battle with security forces in Srinagar’s Chattabal area on Saturday, triggering intense clashes between stone-pelting crowds and the police in various parts of the summer capital of restive Jammu and Kashmir. A CRPF officer was injured during the encounter, the officials said.
During the subsequent clashes, a J&K police ‘bunker vehicle’ ran over a protester in City’s Noor Bagh area, causing multiple injuries to him. The youth identified as Aadil Ahmed Yadu was rushed to nearby Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital where he succumbed. This led to escalation in tensions across Srinagar. Several parts of the City witnessed clashes and stone-pelting incidents during rest of the day, leaving scores of protesters and security forces personnel injured, the police and hospital sources said.
Inspector General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Ravideep Sahi, said that all the three militants trapped inside a private house in Gasi Mohalla of Chattabal were killed in the fire fight with security forces. He added that their identity was being ascertained.
The police later claimed that the militant trio killed in the encounter was planning a major terror strike in Srinagar ahead of the reopening of ‘Darbar move’, the bi-annual office move. The civil secretariat, the seat of power, and other government offices, the Governor’s office and the high court which closed in winter capital Jammu last month are scheduled to reopen in Srinagar after a 10-day long break on Monday. The police said that one of the slain militants was Fayaz Ahmed Hamaal, a resident of Srinagar’s Fatah Kadal locality, whereas identifies of the two others killed with him are yet to be ascertained.
Earlier reports had said that LeT district commander for Srinagar Merajuddin Bangroo is among the gunmen trapped inside the private house in the locality.