‘Militant killed in Budgam gunfight’

A militant was killed in a gunfight with government forces at Patrigam village of Chadoora area in Budgam district on Monday, the police said.

Additional director general of police Muneer Ahmad Khan said they had a “specific input” about presence of a militant in a house in Patrigam.

   

“The militant opened fire on the forces, triggering a gunfight in which he was eventually killed,” Khan told Greater Kashmir.

The identity of the slain militant is being ascertained, he said, ruling out reports that three militants were hiding in the house.

“The gunfight is over,” he said.

A witness said that the residential house, where the militant was holed up, suffered damage after forces used explosive material to blow up the structure.

Another witness said that as soon as the news of gunfight spread in Chadoora, scores of youth staged a protest and clashed with forces.  The protesters pelted the forces with stones and the forces in turn resorted to pellet firing in which two youth sustained injuries and were treated at sub-district hospital Chadoora, the witness said.

Earlier, the internet services were snapped across the district as a “precautionary measure to prevent spreading of rumours”, an official said.

CLASHES IN PULWAMA

Meanwhile, clashes erupted in Pulwama after rumours spread that two militants were trapped in Tahab village in the district.

Earlier, the government forces had resorted to aerial firing after a vehicle failed to stop during a ‘naka’ checking in Tahab, an official said.

He said that the vehicle was signaled to stop for checking, but it didn’t. “Following this, the forces fired some shots in the air to stop the vehicle,” the official said.

He however said that the driver managed to flee, leaving behind some poppy straw.

A report said that shortly after the incident, government forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. The news about the search operation and the alleged trapping of militants spread in the town, where youth pelted stones on a local police station. The government forces lobbed tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters.

The clashes disrupted life across the town, while shopkeepers downed their shutters. After a couple of hours, life limped back to normalcy at around 4 pm when traders again opened their shops, a witness said.

A police official said that no militants were present in Tahab and those who dropped the poppy straw from the vehicle were “probably drug peddlers.”

(With inputs from CNS)

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