STATE TIMES NEWS
Srinagar: Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed in an encounter with security forces in J and K’s Shopian, earlier on Thursday.
Two wanted Hizbul Mujahideen militants, including a former policeman, were killed today in a gun battle with security forces in Shopian District of south Kashmir.
An encounter broke out between security forces and militants in Vehil village of Shopian, 55km from here, after the troops of 62 Rashtriya Rifles launched a search operation in the area, an army official said.
He said two militants were killed in the encounter. Two weapons were recovered from the militants.
The official said the dead militants were identified as Naseer Ahmad Pandit and Inamul Haq alias Waseem Malla, both wanted militants of Hizbul Mujahideen.
Pandit had joined militant ranks after deserting police force last year. He was posted on security duty at the residence of PDP MLA and then Works Minister Altaf Bukhari at the time of quitting the force.
Meanwhile, security forces on Thursday busted a militant hideout and recovered a cache of arms and ammunition in Kupwara District.
Thirteen grenades of various types, assorted ammunition and a large quantity of eatables including dry fruits were recovered from the hideout, a police official said.
Troops of 28 Rashtriya Rifles and police had launched a massive search operation in Dardpora Forest belt in Lalpora area after their patrol was fired upon by hiding militants on Tuesday, triggering a brief encounter, he said.
The body of an unidentified militant was recovered from the encounter site on Wednesday, the official said.
Meanwhile, angry protesters on Thursday set a police vehicle ablaze after hijacking it in Pulwama during clashes over the killing of two militants.
The youths, angered at the death of two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants, set on fire a Mobile Police Bunker at Kareemabad, ancestral village of Naseer Pandit- one of the two militants who died in a brief gunfight with forces in adjacent Shopian district.
Pandit, a former cop, had ran away with weapons from former Works Minister Altaf Bukhari’s residence in Srinagar last year. Witnesses said that the youths hijacked the vehicle at Pulwama town, drove it three kilometers away and finally set it ablaze in Karimabad village. However, the vehicle was empty when it went up in flames. As soon as the news of the death of militants spread, youth took to streets and clashed with police and paramilitary forces. All shops and commercial establishments in the area remained closed in view of deaths of the militants.
