Basharat Saleem was believed to be trapped in a house along with an associate at New Colony locality of Sopore, 55 km from here, on Saturday evening but gave the slip to the search parties comprising police, Rashtriya Rifles and CRPF, Deputy Inspector General of Police (north Kashmir) Abdul Qayoom Manhas said.
An AK assault rifle,three magazines with 90 rounds, two hand grenades and a laptop were recovered from the scene of the gun battle, he said.
“The militants apparently fled on late Saturday night after fire broke out in the besieged house and the officers supervising the operation pressed fire tenders to control it from spreading to adjoining houses,” Manhas said.
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