Srinagar: Four militants, including a Pakistani national, were killed in two separate encounters in Srinagar and Kulgam districts during the past 24 hours, a senior police official said on Sunday.
Acting on a specific input regarding the presence of militants in Zoonimar area of district Srinagar, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and CRPF, a police official said.
“During the search operation, repeated appeals to surrender were made to the hiding militants through their families and community members of the area, but they started firing indiscriminately upon the search party, which retaliated leading to an encounter,” he said.
The official said in the ensuing gunfight, three militants were killed and their bodies retrieved from the site of the encounter.
“Two of the slain militants have been identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo from Barthana in Srinagar and Shahid Ahmad Bhat of Semthan in Bijbehara while the third was a youth from Soura, whose complete identification is yet to be ascertained,” he said.
Mobile Internet services were suspended in Srinagar in view of the operation.
The official said the three slain militants were affiliated to proscribed Hizbul Mujahideen outfit.
Security forces have killed 31 militants in June while 105 militants have been killed this year so far.
The official said the Srinagar operation came within 24 hours of the killing of a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant in Kulgam district on Saturday.
“The killed militant was identified as Tayab Waleed alias Imran Bhai alais Gazi Baba, a Pakistani national affiliated with proscribed outfit JeM,” he added.
According to police records, the slain militant was an “operational commander” of the JeM and an expert in making IEDs besides being a sharpshooter.
Meanwhile, police on Sunday said it tried every trick in the book including bringing relatives of three holed up young militants to convince them to surrender, but had to launch an operation as emotional appeals failed to break the deadlock in the city’s Zoonimar area.
The operation began late Saturday night and on Sunday, officials said, the trio was killed by security forces in an encounter.
Two of the slain militants were identified as Shakoor Farooq Langoo of Bharthana in Srinagar, and Shahid Ahmad Bhat of Semthan Bijbehara, while the third was a youth from Soura. They were affiliated to the banned Hizbul Mujahideen militant group.
Police says when “reasoning and emotional appeals” failed to convince the militants, “the police launched the final assault to save civilians in the congested downtown area, eliminating the trio in a smooth operation.”
The militants, who police said are believed to have been behind the killing of two BSF personnel in Soura during Ramadan, were cornered in a house.
During the operation on late Saturday night, Superintendent of Police of the Task Force, Tahir Bhatti, made repeated appeals to the militants to lay down their arms and surrender.
“They were cornered during the night and the first task was to rescue civilians. We successfully managed to pull out the house-owner and people from nearby houses,” a senior police officer said on the condition of anonymity.
During the encounter, which took place at Zoonimar in the Zadibal area of downtown Srinagar, senior officers located the parents of the holed up militants and brought them near the site to appeal to them to surrender.
“Your mother is suffering from a heart ailment. Come out and surrender. They will help you,” the uncle of one of the militants said, while the mother of one of the militants, with tears in her eyes, urged her son to lay down his arms.
The owner of the house, where they were hiding, also made appeals to them to surrender, police said.
“I don’t have money, please come out. I can’t make the house again. My daughter is getting married soon. I will not be able to bear this loss,” the owner of the house was heard saying.
Bhatti, while talking to the parents of one of the holed up militants, requested them to bring him out with love and assured that “no harm will come to them”.
“We have been trying for the past 10 hours and the purpose why you have been called here is to make an appeal with love and care so that he is saved,” Bhatti was heard telling the sobbing parents.
“However, repeated appeals were responded to by gunshots and police had to launch a final onslaught. They stormed the house and killed the militants,” police said.
After the operation was over, the house-owner was seen thanking the police officers for ensuring that there was no damage to his home. “Everything is fine inside,” the owner said.
Langoo was involved in the killing of two BSF personnel at the 90ft road in Soura on May 20. The snatched AK rifle belonging to the killed BSF personnel was recovered from the site of encounter. (With some PTI inputs)
