Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Sept 12: As Poonch operation today entered into second day and was all set to prolong to even third day tomorrow, Army, CRPF and Police, fighting jointly, gunned down another militant overnight while a Para Commando of the Army and a police constable were injured late tonight as security forces geared up for final assault to eliminate one or two remaining militants, who were still hiding inside under-construction Mini Secretary building in the heart of Poonch town.
Official sources told the Excelsior that militant(s) continued to fire bursts and launched grenade attack with Under Barrel Grenade Launcher (UBGL) from inside the Mini Secretariat building. In one such attack, Para Commando of the Army, KD Sripati and police constable Mohammad Bashir were injured.
They were evacuated from the site of firing and shifted to hospitals.
Security forces killed another militant inside `Mir Manzil’, adjacent to Mini Secretariat building, in Poonch town overnight, taking death toll in the ongoing gun-battle to five including four militants and a police personnel. Three militants and police constable Rajinder Prasad were killed in the gunbattle yesterday.
Director General of Police (DGP) K Rajendra Kumar told the Excelsior that four militants have been killed so far in the two-day long gun-battle in two buildings-the under construction Mini-Secretariat and private house ‘Mir Manzil’-and there was possibility of one or two more militants hiding inside the Mini Secretariat. The ‘Mir Manzil’ has, however, been cleared of the militants but the family members were asked by the police to stay away (from the house) till all militants in the vicinity were killed and entire area sanitized.
Rajendra, who visited the site of encounter in Poonch today and reviewed progress of encounter with top officers of Army, CRPF and Police, who were involved in the operation, said the search and cordon was being maintained along under-construction Mini Secretariat as well as Mir Manzil buildings, where the militants had taken shelter since early morning yesterday, and operation to neutralize remaining militant(s) would be carried out tomorrow morning.
“The militants were well equipped,” he said.
While three militants were gunned down yesterday, two inside Mini Secretariat building and one inside Mir Manzil, their fourth associate was eliminated overnight, sources said, adding that bodies of two militants have been recovered from Mir Manzil, where security personnel entered this morning. There was no militant inside the Mir Manzil now.
However, two bodies of militants, which were lying inside under-construction Mini-Secretariat building, had been dragged inside by the surviving militant or militants and couldn’t be recovered today. Yesterday, police had through drone spotted bodies of two slain militants in premises of the Mini Secretariat late last evening but this morning they had been slightly dragged inside by the surviving militant(s), who continued to fire bursts with AKs and launch grenade attacks with UBGLs.
The security personnel were using rocket launchers and other fire arms to neutralize the militants and final assault against them was likely tomorrow.
Sources said security forces exploded some `charge bombs’ to clear and sanitize the area to enter the Mini-Secretariat to eliminate surviving militant(s). However, security forces wanted exact location of the militant(s) to be spotted before entering inside. Para commandos have also been stationed around the building before launching final assault.
“The militant was changing direction. Therefore, security personnel wanted him to engage and were waiting him to come out before eliminating him,” sources said, adding it was still not clear whether there was one or two militants inside but the more possibility was that only one militant was now left.
Bodies of two militants killed in Mir Manzil have been recovered and both looked like Pakistanis. Their bodies have been kept in the hospital for post-mortem.
So far, police have recovered one AK rifle, five magazines, one Under Barrel Grenade Launcher, three UBGL grenades and other items from the possession of two militants, who were killed inside the ‘Mir Manzil’ building, whose owner Haji Nazir Hussain Mir and his wife had spent nearly 10 hours in the bathroom, before they were rescued by the security personnel.
Army, CRPF and Police have been maintaining strict cordon around under-construction Mini-Secretariat building to ensure that the militant(s) didn’t manage to escape. They were confident that the militant(s) would be killed anytime now. At the same time, they said, the operation could enter into third day tomorrow.
With killing of another militant overnight, a total of five persons including four militants and a police personnel, Rajinder Prasad have been killed in the two-day long gun-battle while six persons have been injured. Two Army jawans, two police personnel and a civilian were injured yesterday while a Para Commando and a police constable were injured tonight.
Senior Army, CRPF and police officers were camping at the spot supervising the operation, which continued for second day today.
Meanwhile, people from majority community have strongly condemned Pakistan for sending militants on the eve of Eid festival and disrupt the festivities.
A number of people spoke to the Excelsior and charged Pakistan with trying to vitiate peaceful atmosphere in Poonch on the eve of Eid festival.
DIG Rajouri-Poonch Johnny Williams, SSP Poonch, J S Johar and DySPs Mohan Lal, Sagar Singh and Riyaz Tantray and SHO Poonch Jitender Raina were among others engaged in the operation from police side.
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