Security forces shot dead a militant of Al-Badr group during a brief encounter in the outskirts of Srinagar on Friday while militants fired gunshots towards the residence of a legislator in south Kashmir.
Sources said that police and security forces cordoned off Gulzarpora locality near Bash-e-Mahtab in the periphery of capital Srinagar late on Thursday night following specific information that a dreaded militant was hiding in a private house.
When the security personnel zeroed in on the house, the hiding militant attempted to flee after tossing a hand grenade. The grenade explosion resulted into injuries to a cop. The militant was chased and shot dead when he attempted to take position in a neighbouring house. He was later identified as Muzaffar Iqbal Naikoo alias Nikka Molvi, a resident of Batpora village in north Kashmir’s Sopore belt.
Molvi, initially associated with lashkar-e-Tayyeba outfit, was active since 2006 in Sopore area and security forces had listed him among the most dreaded militants. The security forces claimed that he was involved in killing of two sisters in the area a few years ago. The incident had shocked the Valley and evoked widespread condemnation from all sections of the society.
Following the incident, leT disowned Molvi publicly forcing him to abandon the area. He had later joined the Al Bard group.
People came out in large numbers when Molvi’s body reached the area and despite snowfall a few thousand people took part in his funeral prayers. Clashes also erupted in the area when youths pelted stones and bricks on the security forces.
Meanwhile, police said the militants had mounted an attack on the residence of opposition National Conference legislator Showkat Ahmad Ganai in south Kashmir. The attack was repulsed, police said.
The lawmaker lives in Chiytagam village in south Kashmir’s Shopian district. The guards posted at his residence repulsed the attack. Ganai is currently in Jammu to attend the budget session. He was in news earlier this week when he referred to slain Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burhan Wani as “martyr”.