 S Tahir-ul Haq
Early Times Report
KUPWARA, Oct 11: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants including a former PhD scholar Manan Wani were killed Thursday in an encounter with security forces in Handwara area of this north Kashmir district.
A top police official told Early Times that "a joint team of army's 30 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and police in the wee hours launched a cordon and search operation in Shartgund Bala area of Qalamabad in Handwara following information about presence of 2-3 militants there."
"Security forces fired some warning shots towards the suspected spot. However there was no early response from the other end, but the cordon was placed intact till the operation was resumed again," the police official said. "We had inputs about the presence of two militants, so the search was again launched after which the hiding militants fired on the search party which was retaliated leading to an encounter."
The civilians in the nearby areas were evacuated to avoid any collateral damage, the militants were engaged from all sides so that they cannot escape from the encounter side, said the official.
He said in the gunfight two militants were killed who were later identified as Manan Bashir Wani (a B category militant who was recently made a top commander of HM in north Kashmir and his associate Ashiq Hussain Zargar of Tulwari, Langate).
Incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of the encounter, the police official said. Manan, a resident of Tikipora, Lolab was a PhD scholar from Aligrah Muslim University.
Fearing law and order situations, the authorities had closed educational institutions in some parts of Handwara and Kupwara district while internet service was also snapped in the area, said sources. |
