Militant recruitment down: GOC
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Nov 3: A militant was killed by security forces in a brief gun battle in South Kashmir’s Shopian this evening while Army shot dead a mentally challenged man in the district during the night.
On specific input about presence of militants in Khudpora Memander village of Arwani in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, Army’s 44 RR, SOG of Jammu Kashmir Police, 23 Para and CRPF launched an operation this evening.
As the security forces cordoned off the area, militants opened fire on troops leading to a gun battle in which one militant was killed. The body of the militant and one AK rifle was recovered.
Despite snowfall, the cordon has been tightened as security forces believed presence of one or more militants in the village.
Residents of the area gathered at the encounter site and pelted stones at the security forces who retaliated by firing teargas. The clashes were on when reports last came in.
And a mentally-challenged man was shot dead by Army outside the Army camp in South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
A police official said mentally challenged man tried to walk into the Army camp of 34 RR stationed at Pahnoo village of the district around 3 am. He said that a sentry manning a bunker fired some warning shots in air but the man did not stop.
“He then fired some shots upon him, killing him on the spot”, he added. The slain man was identified as Rayees Ahmad Wani, resident of Begam Kulgam.
Family members and relatives of the man reached Shopian and held a sit-in protest along with his body at Batapora Chowk. A family member said that Rayees was missing since Friday afternoon.
And General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 15 Corps, Lt General A K Bhatt today said that the militant recruitment is on decline during past two months.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Central Kashmir district of Budgam, Lt General Bhat said that the recruitment of local youth in militant outfits has been persistent during past couple of years.
“However, we have seen a drop in it (recruitment) in past two months,” he said adding: “We believe that youth of Kashmir will follow right path and there will be even lesser recruitment.”
Asked about the reports of Ehtesham Bilal, a missing B Tech student from Khanyar area joining the global militant organization Islamic State, the GOC said that there were media reports and some messages were circulating on social media. “There is no official confirmation about the boy joining IS. In Kashmir, IS doesn’t have much influence,” he said.
Follow our WhatsApp channel