Conflict

Kulgam Gunfight: Militants escaped after taking advantage of crowd gathered near gunfight site, says Police

Srinagar: Militants escaped from the the gun fight site after taking advantage of the crowd which had assembled near the site in Kulgam, Jammu and Kashmir police said in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement also added that one of the civilians killed Sharjeel Ahmed Sheikh was an ‘absconder in an Arms Act case.’

“It is to mention that the hiding militants taking advantage of the crowd assembled across the river Jelhum which was very close to the target house made indiscriminate firing. Though SFs tried to contain it, keeping the security of the general environment in mind the SFs acted with responsibilities (sic),” said a police spokesman, in a statement.

“It is also learnt that Sarjeel Ahmed Sheikh s/o Abdul Gani r/o Khudwani was involved in case FIR no 157/2017 U/S 302, 307,326,427 RPC 7/27 Arms Act of police station Anantnag and is an absconding accused of the court in the said case. Police is further looking into the matter.”

He said four civilians, identified as Sarjeel Sheikh of Khudwani, Bilal Ahmad Tantray of Frisal, Faisal Ilahi of Melhoora Shopian and Aijaz Ahmad Pala of Bijbehara, were killed during the gunfight.

Police in a earlier statement had said that all the civilians were killed in ‘crossfire’.  “In the incident, 21 persons were injured out of which three have been discharged,” he said.

The spokesman said that the security forces personnel injured during the gunfight were being treated at a hospital. One army soldier, identified as sepoy S. Gunakar Roy No. 16121860/K of 01 RR, was killed.

“Subsequently, it is learnt that two militants escaped from the encounter site, one of whom is said to be injured. This injured militant is identified as Azad Dada of Arwani who is wanted in a number of serious cases involving killing of civilians,” he said.

“Efforts have been intensified to nab the escaped militants,” he said.

“We request general public not to come close to the encounter site as it is a considerable threat. The DMs have already issued restriction orders in this connection.”

Earlier, forces said a search operation was launched to retrieve the militant bodies from the site. However, no militant bodies were recovered from the debris.

Forces had earlier detonated the house in which the militants were trapped by using explosives, razing it to the ground. Two adjacent houses also caught fire. To fight the trapped militants, Army had even used helicopter gun ships. 

Locals told news agency CNS that five houses and three shops were completely damaged during the gun fight. The damaged properties belonged to that belonged to Ghulam Muhammad Wani, Bashir Ahmed Lone, Bilal Ahmed Dar, Muhammad Yousuf Wani and Muhammd Latif Wani.

Sources told the CNS that the escaped militants were identified as Muhammad Azad Pala alias Zaid, Bilal Ahmed alias Asim and Suhail Ahmed Dar of Redwani, all affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba.

It’s pertinent to mention that the civilian killings occured just two days after Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met the Prime Minister and Defence Minister of India. In her meeting with Narendra Modi, she had appealed for finding ways to end the bloodshed and alienation in the valley.

During her meeting with Nirmala Sitharaman, Mehbooba had called for a ‘humane approach and avoiding collateral damage during security operations’.

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