Pulwama, Dec 28: Two militants were killed and three force personnel injured in a gunfight in Chandgam (Bubgam) village of this South Kashmir district on Friday. Police claimed that the slain militants were involved in a blast inside a tourist cab in Bijbehara earlier this year. The blast was, then, termed as ‘gas cylinder explosion.’
Police sources said that acting on a tip-off, police along with Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and 182 Bn CRPF cordoned off Asthan Mohalla area of Chandgam (Bubgam) village during the intervening night.
“On Friday morning, as the forces launched search operation in the village to flush out the militants, the militants holed up in one of the houses fired upon the joint search party, triggering a fierce encounter,” a police official said.
He said in the encounter, which lasted for more than six hours, two local militants were killed while as three force personnel, including two army officers, were injured. The house where the militants were holed up was also razed to ground.
The slain militants were identified as Imtiyaz Ahmed Teli alias Fahadullah Kashmiri of Tikipora Chinigam village of Pulwama and Muhammad Aamir Bhat alias Khalid alias Khursheed Ahmad of Handaw village of Shopian. The three injured force personnel included an Army Major, Army Captain and a Special Operation Group (SOG) constable.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, South Kashmir. Vijay Kumar said: “The two militants were locals and were involved in a grenade attack on tourist cab in Bijbehara in July this year in which four lady tourists had died and several others injured.”
He said one of the militants, Imtiyaz Ahmad was also involved in an attack on a liquor shop in Narwal Jammu in November this year in which one person was killed.
Meanwhile, reports said after the bodies of the slain militants were handed over to the families for last rites, thousands thronged the native villages in Pattipora, Pulwama and Handaw Shopian and participated in the funeral procession. They changed pro-freedom and anti-India slogans. The Hurriyat (G), Chairman, Syed Ali Shah Geelani addressed the mourners over phone from New Delhi.
Paying rich tributes to the slain militants, Geelani said: “We often tend to forget the sacrifices of our martyrs after exhausting ourselves in the heat of emotions at their funeral processions. We should keep in mind that these young boys have sacrificed their lives for the people of Kashmir and for a cause.”

Lastupdate on : Fri, 28 Dec 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 28 Dec 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 29 Dec 2012 00:00:00 IST