Anantnag: Two militants and a paramilitary CRPF man were among three people killed in a gunfight between government forces and militants here in Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Tuesday.
With the killing of these two militants, the number of militants killed by government forces this year has gone up to 108, six of them operational commanders of different outfits.
The militants killed today have been identified by police sources as Owais Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Moolu Chitragam in Shopian district, and Aijaz Ahmad Ganai, a resident of Ramnagri in Shopian district.
Police sources said that Bhat had been an active member of the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) since 2018 while Ganai had joined recently on May 11. Police are yet to confirm their identities officially, as has been recent practice in which the bodies of militants are also not handed over to their families and are instead sent to be buried in Baramulla.
The slain CRPF man has been identified as Sunil Kaaley of 182 Bn.
The gunfight took place in Bandzoo village of Pulwama district early Tuesday morning, soon after a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) was launched by government forces.
“There were specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area and an operation was launched. Soon after contact was established with the militants, they were asked to surrender,” a senior police official from Pulwama said.
He said that the militants chose to fire and in the initial burst a CRPF man was injured, who later succumbed to his injuries.
“The fire was retaliated and both the militants were killed in the process,” the official said, adding that bodies of the militants along with arms, ammunition and some incriminating material were retrieved.
The identities of the militants, the official said, were being ascertained.
The army said that the slain militants were involved in many unlawful activities, including killing of non-local labourers last year, disrupting the apple trade, and forcing shopkeepers in the area to keep shutters down.
“They were also instigating the local youth to join militant ranks,” commander of 12-sector, Ajay Katoch, told the media in a press briefing.
The authorities snapped mobile internet across Pulwama district early in the morning but it failed to prevent clashes around the site of the gunfight. Hundreds of youth assembled and tried to march towards the site of the gunfight early morning. Government forces used tear smoke shells to disperse them but they kept regrouping and clashing with the forces in an attempt to try and give militants a passage to escape.

Suhail A Shah