A local militant and a policeman were killed and two policemen were injured in two separate militancy-related incidents in Kashmir valley on Saturday.
Suspected militants fired at a police party on Saturday evening at Pombai area in Kulgam, just a day ahead of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s visit to the district.
“One policeman was killed and two others were injured in the attack. The area was cordoned off immediately to nab the attackers,” officials said.
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L-G Sinha and J&K regional parties including the National Conference, the Peoples Democratic Party and the J&K Peoples Conference condemned the attack.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly attack in which our brave police jawan, Nisar Ahmad Wagay, attained martyrdom. Terrorists will never succeed in their nefarious designs. Those responsible for such heinous acts shall be brought to justice,” L-G Sinha said.
Omar Abdullah (NC) and Mehbooba Mufti (PDP) also joined the condemnation and expressed sympathies with the victim’s family.
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Earlier in the day, security forces gunned down a militant and arrested another in Budgam in a pre-dawn operation.
“The trapped terrorists were given the opportunity to surrender. However, they fired indiscriminately upon the search party. In the ensuing encounter, one terrorist of the Al-Badr was killed and his body was retrieved from the encounter site” IGP Vijay Kumar said.
The police identified the slain militant as Shakir Bashir Dar, son of Bashir Ahmad Dar, a resident of Goripora, Awantipora in Pulwama district.
Dar and his associate were encircled in Mochwa, Chadoora area, during a cordon and search operation by the police, the Army and the CRPF.
“While the operation was in progress, another terrorist had managed to escape from the encounter site. The police got leads about his movement and arrested him from Mantaqi Colony in Khrew area. He was hiding in a truck,” IGP Kumar said.
The arrested militant was identified as Shabir Ahmad Najar, a resident of Wuyan Khrew, of the Lashkar-e-Taiba. “The driver of the truck, identified as Mohd Shafi Dar, was arrested and the vehicle was seized,” the police said.
The operation led to recovery of arms and ammunition, including one AK rifle, two Chinese pistols, one bag pack, one Chinese grenade, five kg improvised explosive device.
“The joint teams of the police and the security forces showed exemplary coordination in conducting successful operations, without any collateral damage. I appeal to the parents of newly recruited terrorists to bring their children back to mainstream,” IGP Kumar said.
Two civilians were injured in a ‘mysterious’ blast in the valley’s Banihal area.
“The mysterious blast took place at the MG Construction site, Banihal, around 11:15 p.m. on Friday. Two civilians, Gopal Sharma from Udhampur and Muhammad Aquib from Mangit Khari, were injured. An investigation is on to ascertain the cause of the blast. The injured are stable,” officials said.