Two militants escaped from an encounter site in Baramulla’s Palhalan area in north Kashmir on Friday morning, while a civilian was injured in clashes near the encounter site.
A police spokesman said the trapped militants “fired indiscriminately” and managed to escape “taking advantage of the darkness early in the morning”.
“A cordon was being thrown and civilians were being evacuated when the militants escaped,” the spokesman added.
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The joint operation of the Army, police and CRPF was launched around 5 a.m. and two local militants were believed to be trapped in Palhalan’s Tantaray Pora.
Police sources said soon after the exchange of fire between the security forces and the militants, scores of locals resorted to stone throwing.
At least two civilians were hit by pellets in the clashes. Tear-smoke canisters were used to disperse the protesters.
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In Jammu, the Army carried out a search operation after the local residents in Samba’s Katli area observed “some suspicious movement”.
“Two unidentified persons carrying weapons and dressed in black were seen by the locals. They fled when they were accosted by the locals,” said the Army’s Jammu-based spokesman.
NIA gets custody of five
The special court of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Jammu, on Friday granted seven days’ NIA remand for the five accused in the escape of Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Naveed Jutt from Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital on February 6.
The five accused arrested by the police earlier, Shakeel Ahmed Bhat, Tika Khan, Syed Tajamul Islam, Muhammad Shafi Wani and Jan Muhammad Ganai, were all residents of south Kashmir’s Pulwama.
LeT’s foreign militant commander escaped from the hospital when the police was taking him along with six other detainees for a medical check up.
Of the five arrested, two were active militants and three work as over ground workers for the militants. The overground workers were accused of providing a car and a bike to help the LeT escape. The LeT militant was also given a weapon.