Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, March 1

A fortnight after the deadly Pulwama attack, four security personnel, including a CRPF officer, were killed and six others injured in a gunfight in Kupwara district of north Kashmir today. A civilian was killed in clashes near the encounter site, while the operation is still underway.

The gunfight broke out between militants and a joint team of security forces in Babagund, Langate, during a cordon and search operation late last night.

The J&K Police, 22 Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF’s 92 Battalion had launched the operation in the village, nearly 70 km from Srinagar, on specific inputs about presence of militants in the area.During search, the militants opened indiscriminate fire around 1 am, triggering a gunfight in which a house was destroyed. There was a lull in firing, prompting the security forces to presume that the militants had been killed.

As the security forces combed the debris this afternoon, a militant hiding in a nearby house opened indiscriminate fire, sources said. “In the fire, four security personnel were killed and six injured, including a CRPF Commandant,” they added.A police spokesman identified the slain security personnel as CRPF Inspector Pintu and Constable Vinod, besides policemen Naseer Ahmad Kholi and Mustafa Barah.

While the gunfight raged, people from surrounding areas tried to march towards the encounter site, pelting security forces with stones. The security forces fired tear smoke shells and opened fire, resulting in injuries to five civilians. One of them, a 17-year-old boy, succumbed at the hospital.