2 militants, cop among four killed in heart of Srinagar
SCRIBES THRASHED Civilian suspected to be an overground worker dies
Two militants were among four people killed in an encounter between militants and security forces in Old City of Srinagar early on Wednesday.
The slain militants were identified as Mehraj Bangroo, Fahad Mushtaq Waza, police said. They added that the duo was associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba and involved in series of militancy-related cases including killing of policemen and grenade blasts.
A CRPF personnel and four policemen were injured in the gunfight that began after police and CRPF began a cordon and search operation in Fateh Kadal locality of Old City in the wee hours of Wednesday, based on information about the presence of militants. Later, one of the injured policemen, constable Kamal Kishore, succumbed to his injuries.
Civilian Rayees Ahmad, son of the house owner, was also killed in the encounter. Police said Ahmad was an over-ground worker and his role was being investigated. Police spokesperson said the operation took place in Syed Ali Akbar of Fatehkadal after intelligence inputs about militant presence in the area.
The spokesperson added that the militants and their accomplice refused to come out of the house and in turn fired upon the search party. “Militants fired from inside resulting in an encounter in which a constable was killed and two Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF personnel received injuries,” the spokesperson added.
The spokesperson said Bangroo alias Asif of Narparistan had a long history of criminal records pertaining to terror related activities and was involved in weapons snatching killing of policeman and grenade attacks. “Mushtaq Waza of Khanyar was also involved in several terror related incidents,” he said, and added that the role of Rayees Ahmad was being investigated for providing shelter to militants.
Relatives of Rayees, however, alleged that he was used as a human shield by the forces.
RESTRICTIONS IMPOSED
The encounter took place close to the area where unidentified gunmen had killed two NC workers on October 5.
Locals took out a protest in the area against the killing of civilian and militants, following which police had to use tear smoke shells to disperse protesters.
Police also imposed restrictions in the area and snapped mobile internet in Srinagar. All school and colleges were also shut in the city.
Police also thrashed journalists who were covering the encounter after some police personnel asked them to leave.
The equipment of Hindustan Times photographer Waseem Andrabi was damaged in the melee. President of Kashmir Press Photographer Association, Mukthair Khan, claimed that the policemen who were led by a senior officer, without any provocation, started thrashing the journalists. The Kashmir Press Club (KPC) condemned the incident, and claimed that some of the journalists were also injured in the security forces action.