Militants abduct 7th civilian in Shopian; police in huddle
SRINAGAR: Suspected militants abducted, and later released, a young man in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday, prompting a security review by top police officials who discussed, among other things, the seventh such kidnapping in four days.
Inspector general of police Swayam Prakash Pani rushed to south Kashmir, hours after Suhail Ahmad Ganaie was abducted from his home on the outskirts of Shopian where two militants were killed in an encounter in a separate incident on the same day. A police spokesperson said the meeting chaired by Pani discussed the overall security situation, including measures taken ahead of the upcoming panchayat elections in the district.
On Thursday night, suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants shot dead Nadeem Manzoor Dar, 18, alleging that he was an army informer. And on Saturday, unidentified assailants slit the throat of a 19-year-old baker, Huzaif Ashraf. In a first, militants also filmed their killings and released the videos. “We are looking into these cases. Culprits will be taken to task and peace will be ensured,” said Pani. A senior police official said militants were “insecure” following intensified operations by forces in Shopian this year. “We have killed 34 terrorists so far in these 11 months,” said the official who did not want to be named. The abductions came in the wake of the killings of two militants, including an army deserter, in a gunfight with security forces in Shopian’s Safanagri Zanpora about two weeks ago.