Two militants including a “top-ranking commander” of banned lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT), were killed and an Army personnel was injured in separate encounters in Bijbehara and Sopore pockets of Kashmir Valley on Wednesday. The authorities interrupted internet in the areas to hamper public mobilisation even as protests were held in the vicinity of the encounter sites.
Sources said that gunfight between militants and security forces erupted in apple orchards located at Bewoora village in Marhama belt of south Kashmir’s Bijbehara early on Wednesday. “We laid an ambush in local orchards after receiving inputs that a group of militants was on move in the area. As the militants passed by, there was a brief encounter that resulted into killing of a local militant,” a police official said. However, sources said that two other militants managed to escape from the area.
The slain militant has been identified as 24-year-old Basit Ahmed Dar alias Sameer, who had joined the militant ranks two months ago. Son of a bank manager, the slain militant was pursuing undergraduate course in technology in the Islamic University of Science and Technology before joining the militant ranks. He was among the freshly recruited militants who took up arms during the recent uprising in Kashmir that erupted after the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 in south Kashmir.
Massive protests erupted in the area after the killing of the militant while the security forces conducted door to door search operations. Eyewitnesses said that people took to streets amid the heavy presence of army and paramilitary personnel in Bijbehara, Kanelwan, Bewoora and Srigufwara areas of the district. Hundreds of people took part in the funeral procession of the slain militant as senior Hurriyat Conference leader Syed Ali Geelani addressed the rally telephonically.
In another encounter, the security forces shot dead a top-ranking militant of leT outfit, Abu Bakar during a gunfight in Bomai village of north Kashmir’s Sopore pocket. The authorities suspended mobile phone services in several areas of the Sopore belt during the encounter hours.
Superintendent of Police Harmit Singh said that Abu Bakar, a Pakistani national, was heading the leT operations in north Kashmir. He was active in the area since 2009.
The killing of the militant sparked violent protests as people took to roads and raised pro-azaadi slogans.