Srinagar: Police on Monday said it killed two top commanders of The Resistance Force (TRF) in a brief shootout in a Srinagar locality.
“Abbas Sheikh, one of the longest surviving militants and chief of the TRF, and his deputy Saqib Manzoor were killed in a brief shootout with police personnel at Aloochi Bagh in the city,” police said.
“We had information about their presence in the area. Ten jawans of police dressed in civvies quickly surrounded the area and challenged the terrorists, who opened firing. In the retaliatory firing, the two were killed,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar told reporters.
He said the killing of Sheikh and Manzoor was a major success for the security forces.
“At the behest of Abbas Sheikh, Saqib Manzoor had carried out several killings. They had spread terror in the area,” Kumar said.
He said “the people in the area were fed up as the two were motivating youngsters to join terror ranks”.
“We appeal to the people to prevent their children from joining terrorists. If they have already joined, please bring them back (to the mainstream). We will welcome them,” he added.
Abbas Sheikh, who was earlier with Hizbul Mujahideen, had defected to TRF two years ago, police said, adding that TRF is a “shadow group of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT)”.
According to security officials, “Sheikh was the mastermind behind most of the killings undertaken by his outfit in the past one year.”
Manzoor, a post-graduate student when he joined the TRF last year, “quickly rose through the ranks as he was believed to have executed some of the killings in and around Srinagar at Sheikh’s behest,” officials said.
Militants hurl grenade on CRPF bunker, one injured
A CRPF personnel was injured after militants hurled a grenade on a bunker of the paramilitary force in Eidgah area of the city on Monday, officials said.
Around 7:55 pm, militants hurled a grenade on a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bunker near Aali Masjid in Eidgah area, they said.
A CRPF personnel suffered minor injuries in the explosion, the officials said.
