Major from Bangalore killed in Kashmir

An Army major from Bangalore and four others–a trooper and three militants–were killed in a fierce gun battle in South Kashmir’s Shopian district on Friday.

An Army spokesperson told Deccan Herald that Major Mukund Varadarajan was killed when a militant who was trapped in the debris of a razed building suddenly got up and fired at him indiscriminately.

The major was trying to sanitise the area as the militants had stopped firing after the building where they were hiding was razed to the ground. The trooper was also killed in the encounter. The slain major is from the 44-Rashtriya Rifles (RR) battalion.

The spokesperson said they had information that three militants were hiding in the building in Karewa Manlu, Shopian, 55 km from here.

“As soon as the search operation was started, the holed up militants fired upon our party. Our forces then returned fire,” he said, adding that one of the militants in a bid to flee from the spot jumped out of the window. “During his escape bid the militant continuously fired upon troops but was neutralised,” he said.

Operation suspended

After a few hours of intense firing the second militant was also killed. “The operation has been suspended for the night but we are maintaining a tight vigil over the cordoned area to ensure no one gets away,” he added.