Srinagar, May 9: Authorities have taken a serious note of the death of an eight year old boy Tariq Ahmad Shah in a shell explosion in frontier district of Kupwara. District Magistrate has asked the Police and Army to sanitize the all the sites where encounters took place in Mawar belt of Handwara area.  
 Tariq was killed earlier this week when an explosive device exploded accidentally in the Shrihama area. After his death locals had revealed that two years ago an encounter had taken place between army and militants at Shrihama where the boy got killed. “Encounter site was not cleared after the gunfight ended as a result live shells and other explosive devices remained unattended that subsequently led to Tariq’s death,” locals had said.  
 Records state that with Tariq’s killing the number of deaths in Kupwara district due to littered ammunition has mounted to 29 in past one and a half year. The number of injuries to the people due to littered ammunition has gone up to 44 in past two years.
 “Killed include mostly children as they were caught unaware. The explosions also left many children maimed,” state the records.
 “I have directed the Police and Army to sanitize the Mavar belt. These deaths are unfortunate and we must not encounter such deaths in future. That is why massive sanitization drive has been launched,” District Magistrate (DM) Kupwara Muhammad Shafi Rather told Greater Kashmir. 
 “Police and Army are sanitizing the area very minutely and at some places they have got some littered explosive,” he added.
 Commander 7 Sector Rashtriya Rifles (RR), manning Mavar belt said the residents of the areas should inform the Army about the places where encounters in past have taken place. “People should inform us. We are also taking the help of Numberdars and Sarpanchs to identify the places where encounters have taken place in the past,” he said, “Sanitization of any place would be carried out by special teams of Army and Bomb Disposal Squads (BDS) of J&K Police.”
 Mavar belt is the gateway for Zachaldara and Nowgam sectors of Handwara in Kupwara district. The area has witnessed many encounters during last two decades of turmoil.  
 In September 2011, two civilians Mudasir Ahmad Khan and Ali Muhammad died and eight persons sustained injuries when littered shells went off at Maidanpora in Kupwara. After the incident the government asked different security agencies involved in anti-militancy operations to draft and adhere  to Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) to avoid such deaths.

Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 May 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Wed, 9 May 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:00 IST