Security men near the house in Padgampora village where two militants were hiding on Thursday. PTI
Tribune News Service
Srinagar/Pulwama, March 9
Three militants were killed while three security personnel, including an Army Major, were injured in two anti-militancy operations stretched across north and south Kashmir on Thursday. Two civilians also lost their lives during protests and clashes that broke out in south Kashmir.Two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in an encounter at Padgampora village, 25 km from Srinagar, in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The militants have been identified as Jehangir Ahmad Ganai, a resident of Koil village, and Mohammad Shafi Shergojri, a resident of Banderpora village of Pulwama district.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)In another gunfight, a local militant was killed and a Major injured in north Kashmir’s Bandipore. The gunfight erupted when the militant opened fire at a checkpoint, the police said.In Pulwama, security forces, including Special Operations Group, Central Reserve Police Force’s 130 Battalion and 55 Rashtriya Rifles, cordoned off Padgampora village and started a search operation following specific inputs.The security forces came under fire from a house, triggering an encounter, said Awantipora Deputy Superintendent of Police Parvaiz Ahmad.The security personnel tried to persuade Shergojri to surrender by calling in his family but he declined. Shergojri is survived by two children and wife.Clashes erupted between security forces and protesters near the encounter scene leading to the death of a civilian and injury to several others. The deceased has been identified as Amir Nazir (15), a class IX student, of Beegum Bagh village, near Kakapora.Health officials said Amir was brought dead to the Primary Health Centre, Kakapora, with a bullet in the abdomen.Deputy Inspector General of Police (south Kashmir range) SP Pani, however, said: “Someone from the crowd fired at the police, injuring at least two of our men, who are stable. We showed maximum restraint. During the clashes that followed, a civilian was killed.”Another civilian, Jalaluddin of Tahab was brought dead to the Pulwama district hospital from Padgampora. While doctors said the victim did not bear any pellet or bullet injuries, locals claimed he was killed during shelling.The police said the two militants were behind the killing of security personnel and political activists, besides attacks on police installations in south Kashmir.“They had been threatening locals to stay away from upcoming elections, and motivating youths to join militancy in Awantipora, Pulwama and Shopian. They were also involved in recent bank robberies and weapon-snatching incidents in south and central Kashmir,” a police spokesman said.The authorities, meanwhile, suspended rail services on the Srinagar-Banihal line because of encounter site’s proximity to the Awantipora railway station.
Terrorists moving along Line of Control, DGMO tells Pak
- New Delhi: Army Director General of Military Operations Lt Gen AK Bhatt on Thursday spoke to his Pakistani counterpart and expressed concern over the “movement of terrorists” along the LoC. The Director General of Pakistan’s Inter-Service Public Relations, Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor, tweeted: “Indian concern on terrorists’ movement was strongly rejected during hotline. Indian Army asked to look inward, share evidence.” The Pakistani DGMO was also informed about the repatriation of two Pakistani nationals apprehended in Uri, Kashmir. They will be repatriated through Wagah on March 10. The youths had accidentally crossed over fearing repression from within Pakistan after they had allegedly teased the daughter of a local man. TNS
