Two militants killed, another held after gun battle in Shopian

SRINAGAR: Two militants were killed while another surrendered following an overnight gun battle in south Kashmir’s Shopian district, police said on Sunday.

Police identified the two slain militants as Altaf Ahmad Rather and Tariq Ahmad Bhat, while the one who surrendered was identified as Adil Hussain Dar. A police spokesperson said the killed militants were involved in attacks on security forces and bank robbery. Arms and ammunition was recovered from the encounter site. The killing took the toll of conflict-related deaths in the past two days to four. On Saturday, a policeman and a militant were killed in separate incidents in Kashmir, even as home minister Rajnath Singh started his fourday visit to the state. Constable Imtiyaz Ahmed Mir was killed, while another policeman was injured as militants opened fire at a police post in south Kashmir’s Anantnag town, an official said. Mir is survived by his parents, a sister and two brothers, one of whom is differently abled, a police spokesperson said. The attack came just hours after a Hizbul district commander was gunned down in north Kashmir’s Sopore in an encounter with security forces on Saturday morning. The militant was identified as Shahid Ahmad Sheikh. Police said Sheikh was the chief coordinator between Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen in north Kashmir.

Meanwhile, restrictions were imposed in some parts of Srinagar city on Sunday to prevent separatist-called protests against Singh’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir, police said.