3 militants killed in Srinagar encounter
Second such incident in just over a month in the city, gunfight takes place in Zadibal area; two militants affiliated to Hizb
One of the militants was involved in the attack on two BSF men last month.
VIJAY KUMAR, IGP, Kashmir
SRINAGAR : Three local militants were killed by security forces in a gun battle in Zadibal area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar, the second in the just over a month in the city. The officials said that the militants were killed after they refused to surrender.
The operation to track down the militants was launched on Sunday morning after the forces got an input about the presence of militants in a house in the congested locality of Zadibal. The police and CRPF cordoned the area and launched house to house search operations.
Vijay Kumar, inspector general of police in Kashmir, said they were involved in the killing of two personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) near Pandach Chowk on May 20 during Ramzan.
“Through our sources, we got to know of their identity and called their parents who appealed to them to surrender. But they didn’t relent and after that operation was launched to neutralise them,” he said.
He added that two of them were active since 2019. “One was involved in the attack on two BSF jawans last month.”
Police said parents and other members of the civil society were brought to the encounter site and asked to surrender but they refused to do so.
Police identified the militants as Shakoor Farooq Langoo of Bharthana and Shahid Ahmad
Bhat of Semthan Bijbehara and said they were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen/ ISJK. However, police said the third militant is yet to be identified.
An official spokesperson said that as per police records, Shakoor Farooq Langoo was involved in the killing of two BSF personnel at 90ft road Soura on May 20 and the snatched AK rifle belonging to the BSF Jawan was recovered from the site of encounter.
In another operation launched on Saturday evening at Likhdipora village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, one militant was killed in the operation. “The killed terrorist was identified as Tayab Waleed, a Pakistani national affiliated with proscribed terror outfit JeM,’’ the spokesperson said.
According to police records, he was the operational commander of JeM and was an expert in making IEDs besides being a sharpshooter.
Arms and ammunition and other incriminating material were recovered from the site of encounter.
Police said keeping in view of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure the safety of people from the inherent risk of contracting the infection, the bodies of the killed militants have been sent to Handwara and Baramulla for their burial.