Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Oct 11: An Army jawan was killed when an Army ambush party on the Line of Control (LoC) in Keran sector of the frontier district of Kupwara was last night fired upon while a Pakistani militant gave slip to police in Srinagar this evening.
Sources said that 15 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) of Army had laid an ambush in Sunder Mali area of Keran sector last night when they were fired upon in which an Army jawan was killed. “The jawan has been identified as Mahadev Patel”, sources added.
Sources said that ambush was laid between the LoC fence and the LoC last night after Army received information about the movement of an infiltrating group. In the morning entire area was searched but no militant was found in the area.
Sources said that an army jawan of 23-Grenadiers identified as Zahid Ali was injured when he walked over a land mine in Keran sector today. He was removed to Srinagar’s 92-Base hospital where he is undergoing treatment.
Army today launched a search operation in Chounpathri area of Gulmarg sector in North Kashmir after reports of presence of a group of militants in the area. However, during the searches no one was found.
In Srinagar, a Pakistani militant gave slip to police this evening after a police party tried to catch him in Ahmad Nagar area.
Sources said that police had reports about the presence of a Pakistani militant in Ahmad Nagar area of Srinagar where he fled from a police cordon last week during an encounter.
Sources said that the militant was having dinner in the locality for past one week in different households. “Special Operations Group of Jammu and Kashmir Police after receiving information laid an ambush this evening in Ahmad Nagar. When the blanket clad militant walked into the ambush, SOG men pounced upon him but he dropped the blanket and fled by firing few gun shots”, sources added.
Police and SOG have launched an operation in the area to trace out the militant who escaped from the security cordon twice since last week.
A police spokesman, however, said that few gun shots were heard in Omarhair area of Ahmad Nagar, Srinagar this evening. “Police cordoned the area and searches are on”, he added.
And in a dangerous trend, a group of three youth who snatched a rifle from a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan in Tral on Wednesday, tried to snatch more weapons from a minority picket in Koil village of Pulwama district but their attempt was foiled by security guards.
Sources said that a group of three youth who snatched a rifle from a CRPF man in Tral in district Pulwama on Wednesday had been identified by police and a massive man hunt had been launched to trace them.
These youth tried to snatch more rifles from a minority picket in Koil Pulwama this afternoon but the security guards fired in air and they fled away leaving behind the rifle they had snatched from a CRPF jawan.
Sources said that these youth have no links with any militant organization but wanted to arm themselves by snatching weapons from security force personnel to float their own group.
However, Police said that an alert police guards today foiled an attempt by militants to snatch their weapons in Pulwama district of South Kashmir.
Police said that a group of militants barged into a police picket, established for protecting the minority community living in Koil village of Pulwama district, and tried to snatch the weapons of the cops posted there.
“Alert policemen opened fire, forcing the militants to flee from the area. The militants left behind an INSAS rifle. The rifle was snatched from a CRPF jawan in Tral town of the district on Wednesday. No one was injured in the incident”, police said.
Police have launched a search operation in the area against the militants. A case has been registered in this regard and investigation has been taken up.
In the meantime, Security forces arrested a local trained militant Juniad alias Manzoor alias Arshad in Dab Turkpora, in district Bandipora this evening. He was hiding in an orchard when security forces arrested him. One AK-56 rifle, two magazines and 60 rounds of ammunition were recovered from him.