2 Militants, Soldier Killed In Shopian Encounter

KO File Photo: Abid Bhat

Two Army Men Injured, 2-3 Militants Believed To Be Trapped

Srinagar: Two unidentified militants and a soldier were killed and two others injured in an encounter in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

According to the reports, a heavy contingent of police, army’s 34 RR and CRPF personnel cordoned off Wangam on Saturday evening on a tip-off regarding the presence of militants in the village, officials said. When the joint team started the combing operation and zeroed in on the suspected house, the hiding militants opened fire upon them in a bid to escape from their dragnet.

“The joint team returned the fire setting off an encounter. In the exchange of fire, an unknown militant was killed,” officials said, adding “One American made assault M4 rifle was also recovered from the slain militant,”

However, police on its official Twitter handle claimed to have killed another militant in the late night hours, taking the number of militants dead in the encounter to two.

“Search going on. Further details shall follow,” the Tweet added.

According to the reports, three soldiers were also injured in the initial exchange of fire.

However, a local news agency KDC reported that one of the soldiers identified as Pinku Kumar, a resident Bagpat district of Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries at the Badamibagh cantonment hospital here, while his colleague Mandeep Kumar was being treated upon by the doctors there.

According to the reports, two to three militants were believed to be trapped in the village. The reports further said that the state forces have installed lights and tightened cordon to ensure that the holed-up militants don’t escape under the cover of darkness.

Pertinently, this is the third encounter of the month in Shopian district.

CASO In Kulgam Ends After 2 Days

Meanwhile Government forces called off a major search operation against militants in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, nearly two days after it was launched on Wednesday, reports said Saturday.

Special operations group (SOG) of police, army’s 9 RR and the personnel of CRPF 18 battalion laid a siege around Panipora village of Kulgam in the wee hours of Wednesday and launched a combing operation, news agencies reported. The search operation, the report said, was launched on specific inputs suggesting presence of militants in the area.

During the 45-hour long operation, the report said door to door searches were carried out.

“After conducting searches for around 45-hours, nothing was found in the area and the search operation ended peacefully on Friday evening,” an official said.

The report also quoted locals as saying that only students and elders were allowed to come out and movement of the general public was restricted to their compounds despite it being the peak season for fruit trees’ pruning.

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