AHMED ALI FAYYAZ
SRINAGAR: Amid high drama overnight, two local militants of Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and a civilian got killed in Kulgam district of South Kashmir on Monday.
According to Deputy Inspector General of Police for South Kashmir, Nitish Kumar, LeT militant Javed Ahmad Bhat alias Abu Zaffar of Redwani Bala was present in his village in a hideout with the fresh LeT recruit Idrees Ahmad Nengroo of Budroo, when Army and Kulgam District Police swooped down on the locality and laid siege to the whole village late on Sunday night on a specific source information.
As the Police and Army zeroed in on the hideout, large number of the residents gathered and resorted to unprovoked stone pelting on Police and security forces. They attempted to break the cordon and force the Army to call off the operation so as to provide an opportunity of escaping for the holed up militants. The police dealt with the law and order problem effectively and carried on the operation despite stone pelting.
During the nightlong operation, the holed up militants made several unsuccessful attempts to escape. In the morning, a 30-year-old youth, Asif Tantray of the same village, got hit by a bullet in his neck at his home, around 300 yards from the site of the encounter. He was rushed to Frisal and subsequently to Sub District Hospital of Bijbehara where doctors declared him “brought dead”. DIG said that Tantray was probably hit by a stray bullet and he died due to excessive loss of blood.
“In the morning, both the militants came out of the hideout and attempted to escape. Troops directed on them heavy fire, killing them both in an orchard. Idrees carried an SLR previously snatched away from a Police constable and Javed had an AK-47 rifle. Their death in a neat and clean operation is a major setback to LeT in South Kashmir”, DIG told STATE TIMES.
According to Police records, Idrees had joined LeT on June 2 and he lived as a militant for only 20 days. One SLR and one AK-47 rifle were seized on the spot alongwith the two militants’ bodies.
“Javed stood booked in the stone pelting cases filed under FIR Nos 32/2013, 39/2013, 186/2013, 250/2013 besides FIR No: 163/2010. He was also wanted in the killing of Follower Mohammad Rafeeq of Hassanpora under FIR 213/2014, killing of the National Conference MLA Abdul Majid Larmi’s PSO Constable Zahoor Ahmad Dar and assassination of a former Anantnag DC’s PSO Constable Fayaz Ahmad under FIR No: 220/2014”, DIG Nitish Kumar said.
Even Asif Tantray, who according to the officials, was an “overground worker of Hizbul Mujahideen” and a staunch supporter of the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He had been booked in FIR No: 92 of 2009, FIR No:163/2010 under sections 436, 395, 397, 307, 121, 121-A, 120-A, 121-A, 147, 148, 149, 188, 332 RPC and 7/27 Indian Arms Act. Sources said that in February this year, Police had begun to prepare a dossier for Tantray’s detention under PSA, but it was not pressed after PDP formed the government with BJP in March.
However, residents as well as politicians across the board described Tantray as a civilian. They condemned his killing and alleged that he had been killed by target firing without justification. Condemnations poured in from various leaders including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik and some PDP leaders. National Conference acting President Omar Abdullah also condemned Tantray’s killings. While the District Development Board began at Anantnag, NC’s MLA from Homeshalibugh Abdul Majid Larmi staged a strong protest against the casualties in front of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed. Mufti silenced him with the remark that over 120 civilians had died in clashes with Police and paramilitary forces during NC’s regime in 2010. Hurriyat hardliner Geelani demanded an independent inquiry into Tantray’s killing and called for protest shutdown in Kulgam district on Tuesday.
