5 militants gunned down in Shopian
◗ A civilian was killed and several others were wounded when the Army opened fire on a violent mob
Srinagar: Five militants were gunned down in an overnight encounter with security forces in Shopian district of J& K, while a civilian was killed and 12 others injured during clashes with law enforcement personnel after the gunbattle. Soon after the encounter ended, clashes broke out between protesters and security forces at several places.
Five militants were killed in a fierce gunfight with security forces at Kiloora, a remote village in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Shopian district, overnight, the official said on Saturday.
Soon after the funeral of one of the slain militants, Arshad Ahmed, was held in his native village Ganowpora Balpora, at least one civilian, identified as 24- year- old Bilal Ahmed, was killed and several others were wounded when the Army opened fire on a violent mob.
The police and Army sources said that the troops of an Army unit in the area rushed to Ganowpora Balpora on hearing about a group of militants appearing at the funeral of Ahmed to give him a gun salute. Confirming the incident, J& K’s director general of police Shesh Paul Vaid said, “The youth among the mourners hurled stones at the Army which reportedly retaliated by opening fire resulting in the death of one civilian and injuries to one or two others”. The local, however, alleged that the Army opened fire “without any provocation”.
Militants carrying AK 47 rifles were seen also at the funeral of another slain militant Waqar Ahmed Sheikh in Shopian’s Malikgund village to offer him a gun salute. Among them was Muhammad Naveed Jutt alias Abu Hanzalla, a Pakistani national from Sahiwal ( Multan) and a senior commander of Lashkar- e- Tayyaba ( LeT).
Jutt had on February 6 this year escaped from police custody after killing two J& K policemen who were escorting him to a hospital in Srinagar for medical check- up from a City prison and is since known to be active mainly in south Kashmir. He had been arrested by the Army from Kulgam in June 2014 and was lodged in Srinagar’s high security central prison.
The J& K police had in June this year claimed that Jutt was among three LeT cadres, the two others being locals, who shot dead Rising Kashmir editor Syed Shujaat Bukhari in his car outside his office in Srinagar’s media hub Mushtaq Press Enclave on June 14 evening. The LeT has strongly denied its involvement in the crime.
The police said that a cordon- and- search operation was launched on Friday evening following inputs about the presence of militants. It said that the militants were hiding in a private house.