Was given a chance to lay down arms, paid no heed: police

Anantnag: A local militant, who had joined the ranks of Al-Badr a month ago, was on Thursday killed in an operation by government forces here in Tral area of Pulwama district.
A pistol and 5 rounds of ammunition were retrieved from his possession, police said, adding that his body has been sent for medico legal formalities.
The slain has been identified as Irfan-ul-Haq Dar, a resident of Gadkhal area in Awantipora.
As per police sources, Haq had joined Al-Badr militant outfit on August 20. “He had prior FIRs as well and had been working as an Over Ground Worker (OGW) for a long time before picking up arms,” a police source told Kashmir Reader.
The source said that the identification process has been completed and after the medico-legal formalities his body will be sent to an undisclosed location for burial, “as has been the norm now for quite some time.”
The gunfight took place early morning in Bangidar area of Tral, following a cordon and search pperation launched by government forces “acting on specific inputs regarding militant presence in the area,” police said.
“Contact was established with the militant and we tried to persuade him to lay down his arms. He did not surrender, however,” a senior police officer from the area said, adding, “We brought in some civilians as well who tried to persuade the militant to surrender, but to no avail.”
“Instead, he (the militant) hurled two hand grenades at the forces. Fortunately, no damage was done due to the explosions. Subsequently, a room-to-room intervention had to be launched and the militant was killed,” the officer said.
The officer said that no damage was done to the house in which the militant was holed up, or to any other property during the operation.
“A pistol and five rounds of ammunition were retrieved from the possession of the militant,” the officer said. He also confirmed the identity of the slain militant.
No clashes or protests were reported from anywhere in the area and mobile internet services were not snapped as well. “By the time the word about the gunfight spread, it was already over,” the police source said.

Suhail A Shah