Ex-Hizb member snatches AK-47 from cop during interrogation, opens fire, neutralised

HAD CRITICALLY INJURED A CONSTABLE AND TAKEN CONTROL OF INTERROGATION ROOM

SRINAGAR: After a night of standoff, J&K police claimed that former militant Mohammad Amin Malik was killed in a joint operation with CRPF and the Rashtriya Rifles inside the police camp at Tral on Thursday, following his refusal to surrender.

“The terror operative was arrested on May 30, 2021 along with incriminating materials, including arms, ammunitions and explosives. He had unlicensed .12 bore gun, live rounds, explosives, iron/steel balls, nine feature phones and other warlike stores used in fabrication of IEDs,” a police spokesperson said, adding that the case was registered at the Tral police station.

He narrated how Malik snatched an AK-47 from a constable on June 2 at the police component at Tral while under interrogation. “During the interrogation, the terror operative got hold of the service rifle (AK 47) of Constable Amjad Khan and fired indiscriminately with [the] intention to kill the police personnel,” he said.

The spokesperson further added that Malik critically wounded constable Amjad Khan, took control of the interrogation room and kept firing intermittently at the cops from the snatched weapon.

“Sensing grave danger to the lives of police personnel and that of the terror operative, his mother and the executive magistrate were brought to the site and repeated sincere efforts were made to persuade him to throw away the weapon and surrender. The terror operative, however, displayed complete defiance to such persuasions and not only refused to surrender but also fired upon the police party engaged in persuasion.

One of the policemen was hit with a bullet on chest and survived because of his bulletproof jacket,” the spokesperson said, while narrating the sequence of events.

The police said after efforts to make him surrender failed, Malik was engaged in a gunfight and neutralised.

As per the police, Malik was an active member of banned terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen in the past and was arrested in 2003 and that his brother Shabir Malik was also a militant, who was killed two years ago during an encounter at Brenpathri. Meanwhile, the police have launched an investigation how Malik managed to capture the weapon of the policeman.