3 militants of AGH killed in Tral
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Feb 19: Three militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Diver village of Tral in Pulwama district of South Kashmir this morning while Director General of Police, Dlibag Singh said that Pakistan is trying to keep the Line of Control active to push in militants.
The Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police on receiving a specific input about presence of militants in the village launched a joint operation in Arihal Bridge, Tral, in Awantipora with Army’s 42 RR and 180 Battalion of CRPF.
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Three militants were killed in a brief shoot out during the searches of the village. The killed militants were identified as Jehangir Rafiq Wani, Raja Umer Maqbool Bhat and Uzair Ahmed Bhat. The module which was earlier with HM had recently joined Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH).
Three weapons and ammunition were recovered from the encounter site.
Police said that the militants were killed during a gunfight when they were encircled by the forces during a cordon and search operations (CASO) in the area.
Jehangir Rafiq Wani was the second in command to Hizbul Mujahideen commander Hammad Khan in Tral. Sources said that Jehangir joined AGH shortly before Hammad’s death in January 2020.
Giving details about the operation, Dilbag Singh told a news conference that it was another successful operation which was carried out in Sherabad, Tral.
He said that with killing of Hammad Khan, Jehangir had taken up the Job and he too was killed along with Raja Maqbool and Sadaat. Two among the killed belonged to Tral and the third one is from Bijbehara. “Arms and ammunition were recovered from their possession in large quantity”, he added.
Singh said Jehangir, along with Raja Maqbool have carried out at least 8 terror incidents due to which there was fear in the area. Both of them were also involved in the killing of two civilians. “The civilians who were killed include Mehraj Din Zargar and Ghulam Nabi Mir”, he added.
“After the abrogation of Article 370, Jehangir was involved in setting a medical shop on fire. He also set a truck on fire in the area. He was also involved in pasting posters, threatening people”, he added.
Singh said that he was also involved in setting ablaze a masjid in Tral earlier. “He was also involved in attacking the forces. There are several other incidents in which Jehangir was involved who was also known as Umar Mukhtar. Raja Maqbool was also involved in so many activities”, he added.
“In 2020, so far, 10 successful operations were carried out, out of 10, 2 were carried out in Jammu. In Kashmir, 19 terrorists were killed
in Kashmir and four were killed in Jammu”, the DGP added.
“Apart from this, many terror modules were busted in Srinagar. A module was busted in Srinagar that was involved in grenade throwing incidents. A suicide vest was also recovered from them”, he said.
Singh said that at least 40 OGWs who are the support structure of the militants were arrested. “Apart from this, what is a good thing is that we have been able to reunite 8 people who had left their family to become terrorists. And the number of people joining the militant ranks has also come down over the period of time”, he added.
“What is a thing of satisfaction for us is that during all these operations, there has been no collateral damage whatsoever and we would like that such a trend of having neat and clean operations should continue”, he said.
Singh said that Pakistan is trying to push-in militants into Kashmir and there has been no let up in that. “The ceasefire violations along LoC are on for last some time and the intensity of the ceasefire violations has increased. Yesterday, In Kathua area, a drone came into our territory which hovered over a BSF picket for at least 12 minutes.
When forces retaliated, the drone was flown back by its operators.
Pakistan is trying to keep LoC active and during that, they are intending to push in the terrorists from that side”, he said.
The DGP said that the launching pads that usually remained shut in the winters, have remained active this winter. “Keeping such spots active only mean that they are looking for an opportunity to push-in the terrorists”, he added.
On the use of VPNs and registering of FIR, Singh said that at present priority of the police at present is to act against the misuse of the VPNs: “We are aware that people are using the loopholes to access the social media but unless and until that access is for use and not the misuse, it is fine. Whenever, the line is crossed, we are there to take the action”, he added.
He said that Pakistan is leaving no stone unturned to disrupt peace in Jammu and Kashmir. He said that if there is further improvement in the situation in Kashmir, there will be further relaxation on internet.
Inspector General of Police Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, on the occasion said that there are people who are using social media with the help of VPN. “They are spreading rumours and are instigating people. We have lodged a general FIR and during the investigation whosoever is found to be involved will be named into it”, he added.
On Umar Fayaz of Lawaypora area of Srinagar who was injured in a shoot out in which two militants were killed last month, the IGP said that he has not been given a clean chit as of now. “He is sick and once he recovers, we will take him into the custody”, he added.
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