Three newly recruited militants were killed while one of their associates yielded to the surrender offer by security forces in Kenigam village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday.
The killed militants were identified as Danish Mir, Zahid Bashir Reshi and Mohammad Umar Bhat, all residents of Reban- Khujipora, an outlying village of the district.
While Danish and Zahid had vanished from their village on April 29 and May 1 respectively, Umar had joined militancy in last December.
This is the second gun battle in the district since the advent of Ramadan. On April 19, two militants were killed by forces in Zeipora village.
A police official said that
unflagging efforts were made by security forces to prod the militants into laying down their arms but they were completely intransigent and sprayed bullets towards the forces. He, however, added that one of their associates Touseef Yousf changed his mind and gave in.
Another official said that the gun battle started at least 10 hours after joint teams of army, CRPF and police laid a siege around Kenigam village in Imamsahib area of the district on Wednesday evening.
“The forces had spotted suspicious movement of some young men in the area which spurred them to launch a cordon and search operation after firing some speculative shots”, he said.
The official said that after a few hours of operation , the forces narrowed down their search to a tin shed and soon established the presence of militants there.
“The militants were offered to surrender, even their families were brought to the spot to persuade them to lay down their arms but to no avail”, said the official, adding that they instead chose to open fire on the forces.
In the retaliatory action, according to the official, three of them were killed while one of their associates surrendered.
The official said that all the four militants were affiliated with militant outfit Al-Badar.
Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar hailed the joint team of police and security forces. “The forces showed utmost patience and exhibiting professionalism, which resulted in saving the life of a misguided youth,” a statement quoting him as saying.
It said, IGP Kashmir once again makes a fervent appeal to all misguided youth who have joined militant ranks to shun the path of violence and return to mainstream as the society needs them and most importantly their parents. “We will welcome and accept them with open arms,” the statement added.