Lt Fayaz killers among 12 militants shot dead in Valley
Mukerian jawan among three soldiers also killed, four civilians die as clashes erupt near encounter sites
AWANTIPORA: Two men allegedly involved in abducting and killing 22-year-old army officer Lieutenant Ummer Fayaz last May were among 12 militants killed in three simultaneous gun battles in south Kashmir on Sunday as the Valley saw its deadliest day so far this year, with three army soldiers and four civilians also dying during exchanges of fire.
More than 50 people suffered bullet and pellet injuries in clashes that erupted around the encounter sites, security officials said. The three security operations — at Dragad and Kachdoora in Shopian district, and at Dialgam in Anantnag district — were the biggest counterinsurgency offensive in a single day in recent years, according to officials.
All three sites are within a 50-km radius and the fire exchanges that started late on Saturday night continued well into Sunday afternoon.
Two of the three encounter sites saw clashes between civilians and security forces. Hundreds of civilians tried to march towards Dragad and Kachdoora in an attempt to help the militants escape, police said.
“In all 12 terrorists neutralised (one more being ascertained), 3 soldiers martyred and 1 terrorist caught alive. It’s unfortunate that stone pelting around encounter site cost 4 civilian deaths,” Jammu and Kashmir DGP SP Vaid tweeted.
General officer commanding (GoC) of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen AK Bhatt said this was the “biggest” security operation in a long time.
Among the militants killed at Dragad were Ishfaq Malik and Reyaz Thokar who were allegedly involved in the killing of Lt Fayaz, who was abducted from a wedding at a relative’s house and shot dead in Shopian. “We have avenged his (Fayaz’s) death,” said Lt Gen Bhatt.
Malik and Thokar were with the homegrown militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and also Shopian residents, police said.
At Dialgam, a Hizb militant identified as Rouf Khanday was killed. There was another militant with Khanday, but he surrendered.
Police declined to release the surrendered militant’s name.
The biggest toll was at Dragad, where forces gunned down seven militants — six from the Hizbul Mujahideen and one from the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).
One of the three jawans killed in an encounter has been identified as Arvinder Kumar, a resident of Mukerian in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur.
Village sarpanch Usha Rani, who happens to be Arvinder’s aunt, said they got a call from the army around 5 pm informing them about the soldier’s death. Arvinder’s parents have not been told about the tragedy yet, said his uncle Ram Swaroop.
Arvinder’s younger brother is also serving in the army and currently posted in Sikkim.
THE GOVT IS ALSO WORKING ON A PLAN TO REHABILITATE YOUNG KASHMIRIS WHO HAVE TAKEN UP ARMS, SAID A SENIOR OFFICIAL
NEWDELHI: The Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) government is likely to hold panchayat elections in the state after the annual Amarnath pilgrimage this summer and is working on a rehabilitation policy for young Kashmiris who have taken up arms, according to a senior official familiar with the government’s functioning.
The Mehbooba Mufti government has decided not to hold panchayat elections in “the current circumstances’’ as the environment is not favourable, but will do it in a few months, said the person quoted above.
Panchayat polls have been a long-standing demand in the state, but organisations including various trade groups had appealed to the CM to not hold elections before summer tourist season and the Amarnath yatra.
According to the official quoted above, the government is concerned about tourism this season. “Only 2,000 tourists are coming to the state per day which is not very encouraging,” the official said on condition of anonymity. According to the government, 73 lakh tourists arrived in the state in 2017, compared to 84 lakh in 2016 and 92 lakh in 2015.
Violence had erupted in Valley after last April’s bypolls, and Mehbooba has often said that the solution is a dialogue with separatists. “Separatists are under pressure from Pakistan not to start a dialogue. Infiltration is on a rise,” the official said.
A silver lining, however, is the return of some militants to the mainstream, said the official. “Many militants are returning back to mainstream after appeals from their families but we have to work out a protection policy for them...” the official said, adding that the government was working on a fresh rehabilitation policy for “misguided” Kashmiris.
The policy involves providing security protection as well as monetary support for a period of time. While the People’s Democratic Party has been pushing for a return of the militants (those who have no serious charges against them) to the mainstream, its alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not been on the same page because of its concerns over “national security”.
Speaking in the legislative assembly (LA) on Monday, BJP MLA from Jammu’s Nowshera, Ravinder Raina, said: “A surrender and rehabilitation policy is a grave threat to the national security and this policy must be immediately scrapped.”
The state had formulated a policy in 2010 for Kashmiris who had gone to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir for arms training but wanted to come back.