Kashmir encounter: Another research scholar among two militants killed

Mangalore Today News Network

Srinagar, Oct 24, 2018 : Two top Lashkar-e-Taiba militants, including a research scholar who joined militancy after killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016, were killed in an overnight encounter with security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar Wednesday, officials said, Hindustan Times reported.

 

The special operation group of the state police, the 55 Rashtriya Rifles and the Central Reserve Police Force laid a cordon around a house in Nowgam area late Tuesday after specific information about presence of militants there, said deputy inspector general of police, central Kashmir, VK Birdi. As the army and police assault teams closed in, an encounter broke out which ended around 8 am with a big explosion that left both the militants inside dead.

The militants were identified by police as Sabzar Ahmad Sofi and Ashiq Gojri, both residents of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.

Sofi was pursuing a PhD at Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi after doing a MPhil and had also qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) for appointment as a lecturer before joining militant ranks, officials said, adding that he had been operating in south Kashmir’s Anantnag and Kulgam districts for over two years now.

He is the second scholar turned militant who was killed in an encounter with security forces in the Valley. On October 11, another PhD scholar from Aligarh Muslim University, Manan Wani was also killed in an encounter in Handwara along with one of his associates.

Police said the standard operation procedure (SOP) was followed during the encounter and no collateral damage took place. ‘’We recovered incriminating materials including arms and ammunition from the site,’’ the police spokesman said. Following the death of seven civilians at an encounter site in Kulgam Sunday after locals went in the house where three militants were killed after forces left, officials Tuesday asked locals not to go near any encounter site as could be dangerous due to explosive materials on the site.

Clashes erupted near the encounter site in Nowgam and also in Sangam and Sirhama areas of south Kashmir when bodies of Sofi and Gojri reached their native villages. Police used tear smoke shells and pellets to disperse protestors. Four persons were injured in these clashes.

A big funeral procession was held in Sangam for Sofi, where even some militants appeared and paid a gun salute to him.

Meanwhile, shutdown continued in south Kashmir and restrictions were imposed in Kulgam district following the call from Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) who had asked people to march towards Kulgam on Wednesday. Schools were closed in central and south Kashmir and mobile internet was also snapped. The train service between Banihal and Baramulla was also suspended.