Police delete tweets claiming 4 militants killed, internet snapped in entire district

Anantnag: Police claimed to have killed two unidentified militants in an ongoing gunfight in a forest area in Srigugfwara in Bijbehara, here in Anantnag district, on Wednesday.

Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Zone, Vijay Kumar, confirmed the killing of two militants. “The operation is going on and two militants have been killed so far,” Kumar said. A news agency quoted Kumar as saying that the militants belonged to militant outfit Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM).

Identities of the militants were yet to be ascertained when this report was being filed.

The police’s claims came hours after they tweeted about killing of four militants in the area. The police later deleted the tweets and in a fresh tweet mentioned killing of only two militants.

The gunfight is the first of 2021 in Anantnag district, police sources confirmed while talking to Kashmir Reader.

Today’s gunfight erupted in the forest areas of Shalgol village in Srigufwara area of Bijbehara. A senior police officer from the area said that there were prior inputs regarding presence of militants in the forest area.

“The area was cordoned off at about 6:30 Wednesday morning and by 7 contact had been established with the militants,” the police officer said, adding that the militants opened indiscriminate fire in a bid to escape the cordoned area.

The fire, he said, was retaliated and two militants were gunned down. “The search for other militants in the area is going on,” he said. He, however, did not give out any further details.

An army officer meanwhile confirmed that the bodies of the militants have been retrieved and two AK-47 rifles were recovered from their possession. “The operation is going on,” the officer said.

Kashmir Reader talked to some locals who said that following intense firing in the morning hours, the exchange of fire seemed to have stopped in the area. “We did not hear any fresh firing and we have seen many forces’ vehicles coming back from the area,” a local told Kashmir Reader.

Meanwhile, mobile internet services were snapped across Anantnag district late Wednesday morning and were yet to be restored at the time this report was filed in the evening.

Suhail A Shah