Pulwama, September 02: Three Kashmiri Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants including a commander and a new recruit were killed in a fierce 18-hour long gunfight in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday.
The three militants were identified as Altaf Ahmad Rather, who was outfit’s District Commander, Farooq Ahmad Laway and Showkat Ahmad Dar.
Official sources had told GNS that acting on a specific input, the government forces including police’s Special Operation Group (SOG), army’s 44 Rashtriya rifles (RR), 182 and 183 battalions of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) cordoned off Hanjan Bala hamlet and zeroed in a residential house. The house belonged to Wali Muhammad Nengroo.
“The militants hiding in the residential house fired indiscriminately on the forces ensuing gunfight,†they said. The encounter was suspended till morning.
However, as the dawn prevailed, the exchange of fire between the holed up militants and forces resumed. The gunfire, according to sources, continued till noon resulting in killing of one of the holed up militant identified as Showkat.
“The forces later blasted the house which resulted in the killing of two other militants,†sources told GNS, adding the bodies off all three militants were recovered from debris. The bodies, after legal formalities, were sent to the respective villages of slain militants.
Showkat Ahmad Dar, according to sources and his father, joined the militant ranks on August 19. Earlier, the forces, sources said, had brought his father, Ghulam Qadir Dar, to persuade him to surrender, but there was no response from the former to latter’s call.
The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) south Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, told reporters that the killing of Altaf is a setback to militants in the area. He said the police tried to persuade Showkat but Altaf Rather stopped him from surrendering before us.
Official sources told that Altaf Ahmad Rather, who was a resident of Check Badrinath in the district, was active in the area from last four years and was JeM’s District Commander. “He was behind many militancy related incidents. Altaf’s group was behind the weapon snatching incident at Pakharpora Shrine in June, this year,†they said. However, they said, he had no role in recent attacks in Pulwama district which left six people dead including five government forces men.
Farooq Ahmad Laway, another slain militant, had joined the outfit five months ago. The slain was a carpenter by profession and was a resident of Hard Dalwan Charar-i-Shareef.
The killing of militants sparked widespread protests in adjoining villages of the Hanjan Bala during which people pelted stones on forces ensuing clashes. The forces retaliated with aerial firing, teargas and baton charge, witnesses said. (GNS)
