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Three local militants, woman killed in Srinagar gunfight

This was the sixth encounter in Srinagar since May which comes as a reminder from the militants that its presence has increased in the city
Last Updated 17 September 2020, 07:48 IST

Three militants and a woman were in a pre-dawn encounter between security forces and ultras in Batamaloo area of Srinagar on Thursday.

Reports said the gunfight erupted after security forces launched a search operation in congested Firdousabad locality of Batamaloo during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday following ‘information’ about the presence of three militants in the area

J&K police chief Dilbagh Singh said the hiding militants were given a chance to surrender but they refused and fired.

“One CRPF officer and another CRPF man sustained injuries in the initial exchange of firing. The officer is critical and we are praying for his recovery,” he said while addressing a presser, here.

Singh said that the security forces conducted the operation in a professional manner and killed all three militants.

“#SrinagarEncounterUpdate: 02 more #unidentified #terrorists killed (total 03). Search going on. Further details shall follow,” J&K police tweeted.

"However, a woman was caught in the cross firing and her killing is unfortunate," he said. The slain woman was identified as 45-year-old Kousar Jan.

The police chief said that all three slain militants were from south Kashmir. "Today’s operation was the seventh one in Srinagar in the recent past, but the biggest success was the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Junaid Sehrai (in May)," he said.

Singh said that militants from other areas of Kashmir keep on visiting Srinagar to carry out attacks. "On August 14, they targeted our party and killed two policemen at Nowgam. Before that, they had killed two BSF men at Pandach on the city outskirts. And then they made another attempt at Pantha Chowk where we lost a brave officer," he added.

This was the sixth encounter in Srinagar since May which comes as a reminder from the militants that its presence has increased in the city, which was not long ago was considered as a zero-militancy zone.

Three militants and a police officer were killed in an overnight gun-battle between security forces and ultras in Pantha Chowk area on the outskirts of Srinagar city on August 30. On July 25, two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar city.

Earlier in June J&K police acknowledged that militants were moving in Srinagar to receive funds and medical treatment and the city was not militancy free.

“Srinagar can never be free of militants till militancy is there. They (militants) keep on coming to the city for several purposes. At times they come for medical treatment, meeting with each other and sometimes to receive funds,” Inspector General Police (IGP) Kashmir, Vijay Kumar had said.

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(Published 17 September 2020, 05:03 IST)

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