Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): Three terrorists have been killed in an ongoing operation in Zoonimar area of downtown Srinagar after repeated efforts by their family members, forces to persuade them to surrender failed, police said today.
A gunfight broke out in Zoonimar- Gilkadal area of Srinagar’s old city after joint teams of Police and Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) of CRPF cordoned off the area on the basis of specific information about the presence of militants there, they said.
Talking to NVI, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, said that the three militants were holed up in a house which also suffered damage in the gunfight. “Two of them are locals. We launched the operation in the night. For almost two-and-a-half hours, we tried to persuade the hiding militants to surrender. Repeated announcements to them by the locals of the area were also made. We also brought family members of two militants to the spot. They also appealed their children to surrender, but all efforts didn’t succeed,” the IGP said.
He said that two out of the three militants are locals and one is believed to be a foreigner. A police official said that as the hiding militants refused to surrender and opened fire at the forces triggering an encounter, two unidentified militants were gunned down. Later, the third ultra was also taken down after an intense exchange of gunfire.
This is the second encounter in Srinagar’s downtown in the recent past. Earlier, two militants including the divisional commander of Hizbul Mujahideen outfit Junaid Sehrai were killed. The authorities have snapped mobile internet services in the entire Srinagar district as a “precautionary measure.”
A day before yesterday, addressing a joint press conference with the police, Srinagar based Army’s 15 Corps commander Lieutenant General BS Raju had said that over 100 militants including top commanders of various outfits were killed. Lt Gen Raju had stated that in the next few months, Army will try to ensure normalcy in full across the Valley.
IGP Kashmir has already announced that from next month, police will shift focus from South Kashmir to North Kashmir. Today’s encounter is believed to be a chance encounter as security officials have been maintaining that in Srinagar. militancy was already wiped out but some were on the move, who get trapped after human and technical intelligence is used by the security agencies.
