* One militant escapes, one arrested
Fayaz Bukhari
Srinagar, June 23: Security forces today killed a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant commander, Mehmood Bhai, in an overnight encounter in North Kashmir township of Sopore while one militant fled from the cordon and another was arrested. Security forces also fired at stone pelting protesters who were mourning death of the militant commander, killing one and injuring three others.
Police said that acting on a specific information about the presence of militants in Krankshawan, Baba Raza area of Sopore, a joint operation was launched by Police, 52 and 22 Rashtriya Riffles (RR) of Army and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) last evening.
Militants opened fire on a search party triggering a gun battle. Commander of 5 Sector of RR, Brigadier Alok Joshi told reporters at Sopore that the LeT commander tried to flee from the cordon in the morning. “He was fired at and eliminated. He has been active for past one year. He had fled from the security cordon 4 times”, said Brigadier Joshi.
“We were progressing slowly as there are lot of saw mills in this area. We had an option to set the house on fire and the terrorist would have come out but troops risked their lives by conducting searches”, said the Sector Commander.
Sources said that one of the militants, Javed Matoo, fled from the cordon during the gun battle early in the morning. “However, security forces felt that he is alive and trapped inside. They brought his family including his mother to the spot. She shouted at Matoo asking him to surrender but there was no response”, sources added.
Army later used an IED to blow up the house. “Apprehending that the militant is dead, they searched the debris but no body was recovered as Matoo had fled from the cordon”, sources said.
Police said one AK rifle and other arms and ammunition was recovered from the possession of slain militant who was wanted in many militancy related incidents. “He had escaped on several occasions from security force cordons including from one fierce gun battle in Ahmad Nagar, Srinagar last year”, he added.
An Army spokesman said: “Later in the day, while the second terrorist was attempting to escape, troops manning the cordon successfully manage to nab him alive. The slain terrorists have been identified as Mohammad Bhai, who is a foreign terrorist. The second terrorist who has been apprehended has been identified as Waseem, resident of Palhalan and has been handed over to Police.”
The spokesman said that during the operation which lasted more than 24 hours, two Army men were injured. “They sustained gunshot wounds. Their condition is stable”, the spokesman added.
Soon after the gun battle ended, large number of people protested against the killing of the militant commander at Krankshawan. A group of youth also pelted stones on the security forces who fired at them in which one protestor was killed and three others were injured.
A police spokesman said that after the completion of an operation in Baba Raza Krankshawan Sopore operation parties while withdrawing from the area were pelted with stones by some miscreants. “The mob swelled and attempted to set at fire one security armoured vehicle. Security forces used non-lethal weapons but the situation could not be controlled. Resultantly few shots were fired in which 4 people got injured”, the spokesman added.
“One of the injured Arshad Ahmad Shah son of Abdul Aziz Shah resident of Seer Jagir Sopore succumbed to his injuries. Other injured people have been hospitalized and are stated to be out of danger. The incident is being enquired into and a case has been registered in this regard’, the spokesman added.
The killing led to widespread protests in Sopore with clashes between police and stone pelting protesters breaking at several places.
Chairmen of both the factions of Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Omar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Geelani, called for general strike tomorrow against the killing of the youth in Sopore. “It is unfortunate that rather than showing restrain, the Police, Army and Para-military forces have gone for a killing spree of people. World Human Rights organization must take cognizance of these incidents and use their good offices to stop the rights abuse in Kashmir”, said Mirwaiz in a statement.
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