2 Hizbul ultras killed in Kulgam encounter

Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants and a civilian died in a gun battle between security forces and the ultras at Redwani Village in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Monday. The encounter triggered massive protests in the area and the authorities ordered an enquiry into the damage caused to public property during the exchange of fire.The gun battle began late on Sunday evening when security forces cordoned off a house where two militants were hiding. The exchange of fire that began around 7 pm was halted late in the night as security forces tightened the cordon and sealed off all entry and exit points of the village.A Defence spokesman said that the operation to flush out the militants that began after a tip-off, resumed on Monday morning and culminated after the two ultras were killed. 

Eyewitnesses said the security forces pounded the hideout of the terrorists with mortar shells. The bodies of the two militants were later recovered from the debris of the house.However, while the operation to flush out the militants was underway, security forces came under attack from a violent mob that gathered at the encounter site, raised slogans and pelted stones at the forces in an attempt to reach the hideout and help the militants escape.locals said that the security forces opened fire on the mob, killing a 25-year-old shopkeeper Asif Rashid Tantray. However, a senior police officer in Kulgam said that Tantray was seriously injured in militant firing during the

encounter and later succumbed to his injuries.The slain Hizbul Mujahideen militants have been identified as Idrees Ahmad Nengroo and Javed Ahmad Bhat. 

Two soldiers were also wounded in the encounter and they were shifted to Base Hospital in Srinagar where they are recuperating.Two automatic rifles have been recovered from the encounter site. This is the second such encounter in Kulgam district in the last four weeks. On June 25, one local leT militant Inayatullah Khomeini was killed in Yaripora Village

“The operation was called off after a thorough search and bodies of the terrorists were handed over to the police”, the Defence spokesman said.

Meanwhile, protests erupted in the area amid a spontaneous shutdown as hundreds of people marched towards the encounter site. The hardline faction of Hurriyat Conference led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani has called for a shutdown in Kulgam on Tuesday.

Sources said the Deputy Commissioner has ordered an enquiry into the incident.