Two Lashkar militants killed in Srinagar encounter, mopping operation on
The encounter, which started on Monday at 4am, took place in a CRPF camp in Srinagar’s Karan Nagar area.
Two militants holed up in a building close to a CRPF camp in Srinagar Karan Nagar have been killed and a mopping operation was on, IGP SP Pani said on Tuesday, a day after the gunfight broke out.
Indian Army personnel take position during an encounter with militants in Karan Nagar, Srinagar.(Waseem Andrabi/HT Photo)
The exchange resumed at day break and the security forces were preparing for a final assault when the militants opened fire, a Central Reserve Police Force official said.
“Bodies of two terrorist have been recovered and the final clearing operation is on,’’ inspector general of police (Kashmir Range) Pani said.
Ravideep Sahi, IG-CRPF, Srinagar, said the forces recovered two AK-47 assault rifles and eight magazines from the site.
The death of two militants takes the toll in the latest encounter in Jammu and Kashmir to three.
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CPRF trooper Mujahid Khan was killed and a policeman injured on Monday a few hours into the exchange that started after an alert guard foiled an attack on the paramilitary force’s camp situated in a densely populated area.
Security forces were combing the area to ensure that no militants were still hiding.
The two militants are yet to be identified but director general of police SP Vaid said they belonged to Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Taiba, which had claimed the attack on Monday.
“Two bodies of terrorists recovered so far with weapons. Well done boys by neutralising terrorists without collateral damage.’’ Vaid tweeted.
Karan Nagar is a residential and commercial hub. Shops and commercial establishments were closed and the movement of vehicles restricted in the area as security forces battled the militants.
The exchange started on Monday morning after a CRPF guard foiled an attack on the camp. At around 4am, constable Raghunath Ghait saw two armed men dressed in army fatigues moving towards the camp.
He warned them but when they didn’t stop, Ghait opened fire. The two men took up position in a nearby building and firing started, Ghait told HT over the phone on Monday evening.
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The CRPF and police surrounded the building and managed to neutralise the militants.
The IG-CRPF said security forces conducted a comprehensive recce of the area and devised a strategy before launching the operation.
“We rescued five families of CRPF personnel as well as a few civilians and once the sanitisation (process) of the area was done, the operation was launched,” said Sahi.
The Karan Nagar camp is barely 300 metres from SMHS Hospital from where a hardened Lashkar-e-Taiba man escaped on February 6 after two of the policemen escorting him were killed by militants.
The strike coincided with a sanitisation operation in Jammu’s Sunjuwan army camp, four days after it was stormed by militants.
Six soldiers and a civilian, the father of one of the slain men, have been killed in Sunjuwan, where three militants also died. Combing operations are still going on in Sunjuwan.
(With PTI inputs)
Source:hindustantimes.com