Police Says Slain Militants Were Involved In KP Bank Guard’s Killing
Srinagar- Barely two days after a Kashmiri Pandit bank guard was killed in Pulwama district evoking sharp condemnation, police on Tuesday claimed to have shot dead two of his killers in an encounter in South Kashmir’s Awantipora, in which a soldier also lost his life.
In a bravely executed operation, a police spokesperson said, a joint team of police, army and paramilitary CRPF launched a cordon and search operation (CASO) in Padgampora village of Awantipora on Tuesday morning.
During the searches, he said, militants hiding inside a mosque opened indiscriminate fire upon search parties. In the initial exchange of fire, he said, two Army men sustained grievous injuries while neutralizing one militant on the spot.
“One of the jawans later on attained martyrdom. Extreme caution and limited firepower was used in view of the sacred precincts. Civilians praying inside were also evacuated on time preventing any collateral damage,” the spokesperson said.
The joint team, he said, resumed search for the second militant, who had taken shelter inside a bathroom of an adjacent building
“Again caution was exercised and 14 civilians were rescued from the place before he was neutralized,” he added.
The police identified the duo as Aqib Mushtaq of Malangpora, Pulwama and Aijaz Ahmad Bhat of Syedabad, Tral. Mushtaq was an A-Category militant and had switched over to TRF from HM from the past few months. He has been active since January 2021.
Bhat, the police said, was C-category militant of Jaish-e-Muhammad and was also working in coordination TRF. He was active since May 2022.
The police spokesperson said that the investigation so far has revealed that both the militants, although joined through different organisations, had come together to conspire and attack minorities, outsiders, other vulnerable targets and security forces.
“They were involved in FIR No. 14/2023 of PS Litter (recent killing of Kashmir Pandit Sanjay Pandita at Achan, Pulwama), FIR No 82/2022 of PS Pulwama (attack on 2 outside labourers at Lajoora), FIR No 115/2022 of PS Tral (weapon snatching attempt), FIR No 76/2022 of PS Tral (OGW module which supported them for grenade lobbing) among many other cases,” he added.
He further said that incriminating materials, arms & ammunition including 1 AK-47 rifle, 1 AK-74 rifle, 1pistol, 3 grenades, 2 pouches, 5 AK magazines, 2 pistol magazines, 103 AK rounds, 20 pistol rounds and 2 Aadhar cards were recovered from the site of encounter.
“ADGP Kashmir paid rich tributes to the martyr soldier and appreciated joint efforts of police and security forces for conducting such a complex operation where a hostage situation was defused tactfully and also the sanctity of the mosque was maintained,” the spokesperson added.
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