The Hindu : National : 3 Jaish militants killed in encounter

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 29, 2005

National

National

3 Jaish militants killed in encounter

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: Three alleged Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including a "fidayeen", were gunned down in an encounter with a joint team of 50 Rashtriya Rifles and the Special Cell of the Delhi police in the Pulwama area of Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.

In August, the Special Cell had arrested Aslam Wani, a resident of Srinagar, from whom five kg of RDX, 10 electronic detonators, a .9 mm pistol with 15 live cartridges and Rs. 63 lakhs in cash were recovered. He allegedly revealed that he had to hand over Rs. 53 lakhs to a separatist leader, while the rest of the money and ammunition had to be passed on to the JeM district and area commander. At his instance, the Special Cell arrested Khurshid Ahmed from Kashmir, who provided leads about JeM district commander Suhail.

After securing a non-bailable warrant against him, a team under the supervision of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ajay Kumar, was dispatched to Kashmir Valley.

Acting on a tip-off on December 27 that Suhail was hiding in the house of one Mohammad Akram Butt along with two Pakistani militants, the Special Cell sought help from the Liaison unit of Military Intelligence, through which 50 Rashtriya Rifles was intimated.

In the subsequent four-hour-long crossfire, the militants were killed.

They were later identified as Suhail, the JeM district commander, Daanish and Afaque. According to the Joint Commissioner of Police, Karnal Singh, inputs revealed that Afaque was a "fidayeen" and he had recently crossed over from Pakistan to launch an attack. For that purpose, he was to leave the Pulwama hideout on December 28.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National