Three militants of pan-Islamic Jaish-e-Muhammad outfit including a ‘District Commander’ were shot dead by security forces in 18-hour long gun-battle in Rajpora pocket of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday. The slain militants were locals and one of them had joined the ranks only two weeks ago.
Official sources said that security forces cordoned off Hanjan village in the periphery of Rajpora teshsil headquarters on Monday evening following specific input on presence of a group of militants in a residential house.
The combating security forces — troops of Rashtriya Rifles and counter-insurgency police and Central Reserve Police Force personnel — blocked all entry and exit routes to the village before establishing contact with the holed up militants. A report said that the militants were sent an offer to surrender but they refused to surrender.
The exchange of fire began late on Monday night but the operation was later withheld due to darkness. Additional deployments were called for effective siege in the entire area throughout the night.
Sources said that the security forces targeted the hideout early on Tuesday with mortar shells and automatic weapons. The operation continued till the house crumbled and there was no firing from the militants’ side.
Three bodies have been recovered from the site of encounter. Police said that the slain militants have been identified Altaf Ahmad Rather, Farooq Ahmad laway and Showkat Ahmad Dar, all JeM cadres. Rather, police said, was the “district commander” of JeM outfit in Pulwama and has been involved in a number of attacks on security forces. “Altaf was one of the group members involved in the attack and weapon snatching incident at a police guard at Pakherpora shrine in district Budgam this year,” a police spokesman said.
Sources said that massive protests broke out in the area after the encounter. Hundreds of people shouted slogans against the authorities. Police fired pallet guns to disperse the protesters. At least six protesters have been wounded, sources said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir range) Vijay Kumar said that the killings have given a body blow to the Jaish outfit in Kashmir. A large quantity of arms and ammunition has been recovered from the encounter site. Militant activities have gone up in South Kashmir over the past three months. In August, militants killed three policemen in two separate attacks in the area.