Encounter at Tral village, locals snatch rifle from CRPF man

SECURITY FORCES cordoned off a village in south Kashmir’s Tral area on Saturday evening after they received information about the presence of militants there. Locals, protesting against the search operation, snatched a rifle from a CRPF jawan as they tried to march towards the encounter site at Haina village, 5 km from Tral town.

Officials said that they had informationabouttwoorthreemilitants hiding in the area. Among them, was a top commander of Hizbul Mujahideen, said to have been a close associate of Burhan Wani, as also that of incumbent Hinzul commander Zakir Musa.

As the search operation was on,militantsopenedfireonthesecurity forces, police said. Officials said more troops have been rushedtothevillage,andalltheentry and exit points have been sealed.

The search operation is being jointlycarriedoutby42rashtriya Rifles, Special Operation Group of J&kpoliceandthecentralreserve Police Force personnel.

Astheoperationwasinprogress,peopletriedtotakeoutaprotest march and block the routes leading to the village. They snatchedariflefromacrpfjawanafter hittinghimwithsticks,saidpolice.

A senior CRPF officer said that jawans of CRPF were on their way to the village when protesters attacked them with stones and sticks in the main town.

Police have been warning locals not to come close to the encounter site through public address system.

Meanwhile, security forces called off the operation at Chillipora village in Shopian after militants managed to escape.

Security forces had launched an operation in the village on Friday night following information about the presence of militants there, a police officer said.

The exchange of fire ended late Friday night, but the security forces did not lift the cordon with the aim of stopping the militants from fleeing. “House-to-house searches were launched at daybreak Saturday. The militants had apparently managed to escape on Friday night,” an official told PTI.

However, locals continued to pelt stones on the security forces in the area. Five CRPF personnel were injured in the clash.