Pulwama, July 9: Police on Saturday said that two militants were killed and an Army Major was wounded in a 20-hour gunfight here in south Kashmir.
“Soldiers of 44-Rashtriya Rifles and personnel of Special Operations Group (SOG) of police cordoned off Hanjin village in Rajpora area last evening and launched searches. Militants holed up inside a residential house opened fire on the search party which was retaliated triggering an encounter. After plugging the escape routes, operation was suspended late in the night,” a police officer said.
“We resumed the operation this morning and zeroed into the house where the militants were holed up. They (militants) resorted to indiscriminate firing and tried to break the cordon. However, they were cornered and engaged. The exchange of fire continued for several hours after which we managed to neutralize both the militants,” Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar told Greater Kashmir.
He said that militants fired several rifle grenades and ammunition. “Two AK 47 Rifles, magazines and rifle grenades were recovered from the encounter site,” the SP claimed.
He refuted the reports by some television news channels that some people were taken hostage by the militants.
He identified the slain militants as Javid Nengroo alias Umair of Hajan, Rajpora, and Ehsan Bhai alias Mammu. Both the militants were associated with Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militant outfit. Army’s Major Dixit also sustained injuries during the gunfight.
Ehsan, according to the police, was JeM’s divisional commander for south Kashmir and was active for past 11-years while Javed was active since past 3-years.
The house of Ghulam Muhammad Mir were the militants were hiding was reportedly raised to ground.
Ayub Javed adds: Besides the house of Ghulam Muhammad Mir three more houses of Ghulam Muhammad Wani, Muhammad Ibrahim and Ali Muhammad Hurrah were also damaged in the gunfight, locals said.
Meanwhile, Hanjin village observed a complete shutdown today.
“Groups of youth took to the streets and staged demonstrations. Policemen tried to chase them but youth retaliated, which led to the clashes,” witnesses said.
They said youth also marched to Pulwama town where they forced shopkeepers to close their shops following which transport was also suspended.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 9 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 9 Jul 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sun, 10 Jul 2011 00:00:00 IST