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| Three militants, four soldiers, policeman, civilian killed in Pinglina-Pulwama encounter | | Unconfirmed reports say that Lethpora Fidayeen mastermind killed | |  Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Feb 18: South Kashmir's restive Pulwama district was in news yet again today as three militants were killed in an operation in the Pinglena village of the district. Four army men, a police head constable and a civilian were also killed in the shootout.
Reports said that police and security forces cordoned off the Pinglena village on Sunday night after receiving inputs that some militants are hiding in the village. As soon as the area was cordoned off the militants hiding fired upon the police and security forces thus leading to a full-fledged encounter between the two sides.
Reports said that Deputy Inspector General (DIG) South Kashmir, Amit Kumar, an army Brigadier, a captain and a major were injured in the incident. The DIG along with the other injured personnel was shifted to 92 Base Hospital at Badamibagh in Sonwar where they are recovering.
In the initial gun burst at least four soldiers received critical injuries after they came under a heavy volley of fire from the militants. These army men including a major later succumbed to their injuries. The firefight continued during the night as well as during the whole day and when last reports came in the operation was yet to be called off by the police and security forces.
Police said the slain militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Muhammad, adding that one among the slain militants was local while two others were foreigners. However, the picture in this regard is not clear as the identity of slain militants has not been established as yet. The civilian killed has been identified as Mushtaq Ahmad, resident of Pinglena-Pulwama.
Unconfirmed reports said that among the three militants killed in Pinglena encounter two were foreigners with the third one being identified as Hilal resident of Pinglena. One of the militants has been identified as Kamran however the same has not been confirmed as yet. According to the police records, all the three militants were wanted by the law for their complicity in a series of crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities.
Earlier in the day some reports emanated that one of the militants killed has been identified as Abdul Rashid Gazi and that he was the mastermind behind the last Thursday's Lethpora Fidayeen attack that claimed lives of 49 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and injuring many others. However, these reports were also not confirmed.
A police spokesman said that based on credible inputs about the presence of militants in Pinglena area of South Kashmir's Pulwama district, a cordon and search operation was launched jointly by police and security forces in the intervening night in the area. As the searches were going on, the militants from inside the target house fired indiscriminately on the search party.
"In the initial burst of fire four army jawans and one civilian sustained critical gunshot injuries. They were evacuated to hospital for medical attention. Consequently, four injured jawans attained martyrdom and the civilian also succumbed to his injuries. The martyred jawans have been identified as Major Vibhuti Shankar Dhoundiyal, Hawaldar Sheo Ram, Sepoy Hari Singh and Sepoy Ajay Kumar," said the police spokesman.
The spokesman said that the fire was retaliated by security forces leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter so far two militants have been killed and their bodies were retrieved from the site of encounter. The identities and affiliations of the killed militants are being ascertained. The encounter is still in progress and the security forces are on the job.
The spokesman said that during the encounter a head constable of Jammu & Kashmir Police was also got killed. He has been identified as Abdul Rashid resident of Tanghdar in Kupwara district. A wreath laying ceremony was held at District Police Lines, Srinagar for the deceased head constable. |
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