The Army on Thursday claimed that two more infiltration bids have been foiled in north Kashmir’s Nowgam sector even as a militant was killed in an encounter in forested area of Bandipora district. The Army continued searches in Uri and Nowgam sectors where two major infiltration bids were foiled on Wednesday that resulted in the death of a soldier.
Defence sources said that militants across the line of Control (loC) attempted to sneak into the Valley through two passes in Nowgam sector on Thursday morning but the troops deployed there foiled the attempt. There was no report of casualties on either side.
The Army is on an alert in north Kashmir following the deadly militant attack on an Army base in Uri on September 18. Eighteen soldiers were killed in the attack, one of the deadliest in the 27-year insurgency in Kashmir. All the four suicide attackers, suspected to be Jaish-e-Muhammad cadre were killed in the retaliatory action. The encounter triggered diplomatic row between India and Pakistan, which are already at loggerheads over the prevailing situation in Kashmir Valley.
Meanwhile, the security forces shot dead a militant in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district triggering tension in the volatile pocket.
Sources said a group of gunmen opened fire on a security patrolling party near Chapran Argam area of Bandipora late on Wednesday night. The security forces cordoned off the area and zeroed in on a residential house in the morning. They said a militant’s body was recovered from the house in the morning.
Sources said that a group of five militants had been cordoned but four militants managed to break the cordon to escape. Shortly after the news spread that a militant has been killed, a large number of people including women assembled outside the local army camp.
The security personnel fired tear-smoke shells while people hurled rocks on them. The clashes left more than 12 people wounded. Witnesses said that one of the youth suffered multiple pellet injuries and was shifted to SMHS hospital Srinagar for treatment.
A police official said that the slain militant was not a local resident and after autopsy his body was shifted to Uri for burial. The authorities secretly bury the bodies of foreign militants in a graveyard in Uri. The practice was adopted after tens of thousands of people offered funeral prayers to a Pakistani militant Abu Qasim in Kulgam district of south Kashmir last year.
Meanwhile, the authorities foiled the separatists’ call for a march to Anantnag town and uptown areas in Srinagar. The authorities clamped curfew in Anantnag town and in areas under three old city police stations in Srinagar district. There was no curfew elsewhere in Valley. However, the restrictions under Sec 144 CrPc on the Assembly of people remained in force in all the sensitive areas of the Valley.
The separatists had urged people in districts of central Kashmir Ganderbal, Budgam and Srinagar to organise “pro-freedom march” towards uptown areas of Rajbagh, Jawahar Nagar, Rambagh, Baghat and Sanat Nagar in Srinagar.
A police statement said the overall situation remained under control across the valley and also arrested 57 persons involved in stone pelting and related offences.
Reports of protests and clashes between youth and the security forces were reported from Fateh Kadal and Haba Kadal area in old Srinagar.
The normal life remained crippled for the 76th consecutive day due to restrictions and separatists sponsored shutdown. Shops, business establishments and petrol pumps continued to remain shut while public transport was off the roads. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions also continued to remain shut. Sparse private transport was seen plying on city and inter district roads.