Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 23: Army today ordered an inquiry into the firing by an Army patrol on a private Tata Sumo carrying Army men as they mistook them to be militants in the outskirts of Srinagar in the Central Kashmir district of Budgam last night, killing an Army jawan and injuring two others.
Army today said that an inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident that led to the firing incident late last night.
It may be mentioned here that Army men of 53 Rashtriya Rifles were checking vehicles at Chattergam Chowk in Chadoora area of Budgam in the outskirts of Srinagar. The vehicle checking in the area has been going on since militants killed two employees of a hotel in Srinagar last week and fled away towards this area.
A team of 35 Rashtriya Rifles men traveling in a Tata Sumo were asked to stop for vehicle checking and they didn’t follow the instructions and the Army patrol opened fire on them resulting in the killing of an Army jawan and injuries to two others.
Sepoy Ghulam Rasool Sheikh died on the spot while Naik Setien Tao and driver Abdul Rauf were wounded and admitted to the 92 Base Hospital at Badamibagh Army headquarters.
Meanwhile, Police in South Kashmir district of Kulgam today arrested three militants of Hizbul Mujahideen who were targeting Panchayat members in the district.
SP Kulgam, Mohammad Shafi, said here that these militants were arrested when police intercepted an Alto car in village Damhal Hanjipora in Kulgam district this morning. He said that the car was intercepted after police got specific information about the travel plans of these militants.
The SP identified the arrested militants as Mohammad Yusuf Magray, Shabir Ahmad and Abid Manzoor, all of them belonging to Pulwama district. He said Magray was one of the most wanted militants of the area.
The SP said that one pistol, one grenade, one magazine and 10 ammunition rounds were recovered from Magray. He said that during the interrogation Magray confessed attack on Gufbal village Sarpanch of Kulgam district. He said that he and his associate Riyaz Ahmad targeted him. The SP said that hunt for Riyaz is going on.
It may be mentioned here that Panchayat members were first targeted in South Kashmir by militants leading to the resignation of over 800 Panchayat members across South and North Kashmir over past one year. The militants threatened these Panchayat members through posters and physically targeted them by eliminating several of them.
In order to provide security to the Panchayat members, Army and police are patrolling the vulnerable areas of Kashmir valley to give them a sense of security to them.
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