3 LeT men killed in Anantnag encounter

Tribune News Service/PTI

Srinagar, December 9

Three Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a 42-hour gun battle with security forces in the Bijbehara area of Anantnag district which ended today. A civilian was also killed by a stray bullet yesterday as locals clashed with security personnel near the encounter site.

“Three holed-up terrorists eliminated; bodies of two terrorists and three weapons recovered,” said the Northern Command in a tweet. Army officials at the Srinagar-based 15 Corps Headquarters, however, refused to comment on the operation.

The encounter in Hassanpora, located some 45 km from Srinagar city and less than 5 km from the Chief Minister’s hometown, Bijbehara, started on Wednesday evening after the area was cordoned off following specific inputs regarding the presence of Lashkar-e-Toiba militants there.

A police official said two bodies were recovered from the debris of the house where the militants were hiding. The slain militants were both locals and identified as Majid Mohiuddin Zargar of Qoimoh in the neighbouring Kulgam district and Ruhul Amin Dar of Vessu in Anantnag district.

“The bodies have been handed over to their kin for last rites,” the police official said, adding that one of the bodies was severely burnt. One Army jawan was injured in the gunfight.

Anantnag SP, Zubair Khan, said: “Only two bodies have been recovered, and that is what the number of killed militants will remain officially for now. Our inputs had said three militants were holed up but unless another body is retrieved (from the debris), the number of militants killed will remain two.”

A 24-year-old man was killed after allegedly being hit by a “stray bullet” near the site of the encounter. Arif Shah, a resident of the Sangam area of Anantnag district, was allegedly hit by the stray bullet when the security forces were dealing with a group which was indulging in stone-throwing near the encounter site, the official said.

However, locals alleged that Shah was killed in the security forces action against protesters. They also claimed that several other persons were injured in the clashes between protesters and the security forces.

Meanwhile, Special Director General of Police, Coordination, Law and Order, SP Vaid termed the killing of Lashkar militants as a “major success”. “Both the killed militants were district commanders of the Lashkar and with their killing, the backbone of Lashkar has been broken,” Vaid said. “It is a major success for the security forces,” he said.

A police spokesman, giving details of the operation, said policemen received information about the presence of militants in the house of one Mushtaq Ahmad Ganie at Hassanpora in Arwani on December 7.

“As per the information, Ganie works as an overground worker for the LeT outfit and he not only harbours terrorists in his house but also provides all sort of logistical support to them,” the spokesman said.

Based on this input, an operation was launched by a joint team of the police, Army and the CRPF, he said.

“The house was cordoned off and when the security forces’ party entered the house for searching, terrorist fired on them. The fire was retaliated and the ensuing gun battle lasted almost two days.

“The operation concluded today when a joint team of the police and CRPF quick action team stormed the house and cleared it. The cover fire to the storming team was given by Army troops,” the spokesman added.

In the search operation, two bodies of militants and three AK-rifles along with other incriminating material has been recovered so far, he said.

Several houses were damaged in the mortar shelling during the encounter. The militants kept changing their position from one house to another amid shelling by the security forces, sources said.

Meanwhile militant Zargar’s parents admitted their son had joined the LeT some three years back. Zargar had since climbed the ladder and was calling the shots within the LeT, otherwise dominated by foreigners. Zargar was wanted in many cases by the security agencies.

Today, soon after the encounter was declared over, clashes erupted in many parts of south Kashmir, including Bijbehara, Anantnag, Khodweni and Qaimoh. Mobile services, barring BSNL and Bharti Airtel, remained suspended for the second consecutive day today in the wake of the encounter. Train services between Banihal and Baramulla could not be resumed today as well.