4 Jaish militants gunned down in J&K

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, April 24

Four militants, a soldier and a policeman were killed in a day-long encounter in Tral area of Pulwama district, 50 km south-east of Srinagar, on Tuesday.

Police said the militants belonged to the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and their identities were being ascertained. Sources in the police said two of the slain militants were believed to be Pakistan nationals, while the other two were locals, one of them a constable’s son.

The slain Army man has been identified as Sepoy Ajay Kumar of Sirmaur, Himachal Pradesh, and the policeman as Constable Lateef Ahmad Gojri from Tral.

The encounter began early morning in the forest area of Laam in Tral, where security forces had initiated a search operation following a lead.

“While the search was on, the militants opened heavy fire on our men, leaving an Army man injured,” a senior police official said. “The jawan succumbed to his injuries later.” After the initial fire, police sources said, the militants took cover in the dense forest. There was a lull for a few hours. The security forces then employed helicopters and para-commandos to track down the militants.

“Once the militants were located, the exchange of fire resumed,” the police official said, adding that four militants and one policeman were killed during the fresh firing.

The operation ended with the retrieval of the slain militants’ bodies, which were sent for medico-legal formalities. Meanwhile, clashes erupted in main town and Batpora areas of Tral soon after the operation started. The clashes continued for a while before heavy deployment of security forces brought things under control. The area remained shut throughout the day.

The residents awaited the arrival of bodies of the local militants. All roads leading to Tral had been sealed and mobile Internet suspended in the area.