Two JeM militants, civilian killed during Shopian encounter
Srinagar, Jul 10 Two militants and a civilian were killed during an encounter that raged between forces and militants in Kundalan village of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
The encounter in the village started after forces cordoned off the village following the inputs about the presence of militants there.
It is worth to mention here that the father of a militant also died due to the cardiac arrest after rumours spread that his son has got trapped in an encounter at Kundalan Shopian.
Reports said that Mohammad Ishaq Naikoo, Zeenat Naikoo’s father who joined militant ranks recently, suffered cardiac arrest. The father of the militant was rushed to district hospital Shopian where doctors declared him brought dead.
Meanwhile, Director General of Police (DGP), Shesh Pal Vaid said that the encounter in Shopian ha concluded with the killing of two militants who were reportedly affiliated with Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).
He also said that two bodies of the militants were also recovered from the gunfight site.
However, Zeenat whose father died of cardiac arrest was not among the militants killed in an encounter.
During the encounter, the locals especially youth took to streets, triggering clashes in the area during which forces used tear gas canisters and pellets.
Dozens of youth sustained injuries during the clashes who were rushed to the hospital for treatment.
However, a youth identified as Tamsheel Ahmad Khan of Vehil area of Shopian who was critically injured after being hit by a bullet during clashes with the forces succumbed to his injuries at Srinagar’s SMHS hospital.
Meanwhile, soon after the search was started, militants hiding inside the house fired upon the search party. “The search party in their guarded response fired back thereby establishing contact with the militants leading to an encounter. Some of the civilians in the nearby houses were quickly evacuated by the security forces,” the spokesman said.
“All the hiding militants were eliminated successfully. The killed militants were identified as Sameer Ahmad Sheikh a local and Babar from Pakistan. They were affiliated with proscribed militant outfit JeM,” the spokesman added.
“Sameer Ahmad Sheikh son of Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh resident Rawalpora Shopian was a school dropout and had joined the militant outfit JeM after he was reported missing from his home since April 2018,” he said.
“On the basis of documents available the other militant has been identified as Babar a JeM commander of Pakistan origin. They were involved in many attacks on the security establishments and civilian atrocities,” he added.
“Some civilians were also injured in cross firing at the site of encounter who were later evacuated to the hospital for medical attention. One of the injured persons later succumbed to his injuries while the other injured are stated to be stable now,” the spokesman said.
“Some arms and ammunition were also recovered from the encounter site,” he said, adding that the police has registered a case and investigation has been initiated in the instant matter.
