Top LeT comdr among 2 militants killed
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, May 3: An Army’s Commanding Officer was among five security force personnel martyred in gunbattle in Handwara area of North Kashmir today while two militants including a top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander were killed in the gun fight.
The martyrs have been identified as Colonel Ashutosh Sharma of 19 Guards Company of 21 RR and Major Anuj Sood of same unit besides Sub Inspector of SOG wing of J&K police Shakeel Qazi and Naik Rajesh and Lance Naik Dinesh of 21 RR.
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Colonel Ashutosh was part of several successful anti-militancy operations in the past. He was the only Commanding Officer to have been decorated for gallantry a second time in Kashmir.
The operation was launched at around 3.30 pm in Changimulla village of Handwara after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in a house. The troops had also a brief exchange of fire with the militant group on Friday and they had managed to escape and take refuge in the village.
As the troops cordoned off the suspected spot in the village, they came under volley of bullets during which 5 members of the joint team of the troops that tried to storm the house were martyred.
The searches of the area were conducted today during which bodies of the martyred soldiers were recovered.
The troops also recovered the bodies of two militants including a top LeT commander, Haider.
A top official said that killing of Haider is a big success for the security forces as he was planning to revive the LeT in North Kashmir.
And Army today said that five security men including a Colonel and a Major besides a police officer were martyred after they “successfully extricated civilians held hostage by militants” in Chanjimulla Rajwar area of Handwara in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.
Srinagar based Defence spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said here that based on the intelligence input that militants were taking the civilian inmates of a house in Changimul, Handwara of Kupwara district hostage, a joint operation was launched by Army and JK Police yesterday.
“A team comprising five Army and JK Police personnel entered the target area occupied by the militants to evacuate the civilians”, the spokesman said.
“The team of Army and JK Police entered the target area, and successfully extricated the civilians. However, during the process, the team was subjected to heavy volume of fire by the militants,” the spokesman said.
“In the ensuing fire fight, two militants were eliminated and the team of five security forces personnel comprising two Army officers, two Army soldiers and one JK Police Sub Inspector attained martyrdom in the service to the nation,” the spokesman added.
And seven persons including four minors were injured after an explosive device went off while some of them were fiddling with it in Ahgam area of Rajwara Handwara in North Kashmir’s Kupwara district today.
The incident occurred this afternoon when many boys were playing with the device found by two of them, Junaid Ahmad Khan, 12, and his brother Tanveer Ahmad Khan, 18, sons of Mohammad Ashraf Khan, from a forest area nearby their native Ahgam village.
The Ahgam area is adjacent to Chanjimulla village where the encounter took place yesterday.
The injured were shifted to district hospital Handwara wherefrom four of them were shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar for specialized treatment. Around a dozen persons suffered injuries but only seven needed hospitalizations as others were given first aid locally.
The injured have been identified as Reyaaz Ahmad, 30, son of Mohammad Subhan Bhat, Mohammad Ashraf Qureshi, 30, son of Syed Jaladun Qureshi, Syed Khalid Bukhari, 17, son of Syed Hafeezullah Bukhari, Maqsood Ahmad Shah, 28, son of Syed Mohammad Shah, Junaid Ahmad Khan, 12, and his brother Tanveer Ahmad Khan, 18, and Adil Ahmad Ganie, 10, son of Ghulam Rasool Ganie. Junaid, Adil, Maqsood and Syed Khalid have been referred to SMHS hospital here.
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