Woman injured in ‘crossfire’, 12 injured by pellets as stone throwing clashes erupt around the site

Anantnag: Three militants allegedly involved in an attack on a BJP member’s house in Srinagar on Thursday were killed Friday morning in a gunfight with government forces here in Kakapora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, police said.
A woman and two other people were injured during clashes around the site of the gunfight.
“The lady was injured in cross fire and has minor injuries while the other two people were injured in stone pelting near the gunfight site,” Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar told media persons at a presser in Srinagar.
But a health official said that at least 12 people were injured during the clashes.
“13 people were injured in total. One lady had a bullet injury in the thigh and the rest of them had pellet injuries, Block Medical Officer (BMO) Pampore Dr Gulzar Ahmad, said. “Three of the injured had pellet injuries to their eyes and were shifted to Srinagar along with the lady with the bullet injury,” the BMO said.
The slain local militants, all residents of Pulwama district, have been identified as Junaid Ahmad Nengroo, a resident of Prichoo, Suhail Nisar Lone, a resident of Khrew in Pampore and Yawar Ahmad Wani, also a resident of Khrew.
The militants, as per Kumar, were involved in the attack on the police post guarding a BJP politician’s house, in Nowgam area of Srinagar on Thursday. A police constable, Rameez Raja, was killed in the attack. A rifle was also snatched from the policeman on duty.
He said that one of the militants was Burqa clad and made the sentries open the door. “They came in an Alto car bearing registration number JK-01E 2098 which was tracked down and led to the arrest of three people initially,” Kumar said.
He said that the arrest of these men led government forces to Kakpora where the militants had fled after carrying out the attack.
“There were two other militants who were a part of the attack but they stayed back in Srinagar. The attack was jointly carried out by Al-Badr and LeT,” Kumar said.
Subsequently, a cordon and search operation was launched early Friday morning in Ghatmohalla area of Kakapora here in Pulwama district and the area where militants were holed up was completely sealed.
As per Kumar, the militants had taken some 4 civilians hostage which led to a delay in conclusion of the gunfight. “The hostages were rescued and all the three militants were killed,” Kumar said, “The weapon they had snatched from Srinagar, along with other weapons was retrieved from the site of the gunfight.”
Local sources told Kashmir Reader that forces used heavy explosives to blow apart the house, the militants were hiding, leading to killing of the militants.
“Intense clashes erupted around the site of the gunfight soon after first shots were fired and the clashes continued throughout the length of the gunfight,” the sources said, adding that the youth pelted stones at forces personnel, who fired tear smoke shells in return.
Replying to query, Kumar said that politicians associated with the BJP were at a greater risk than others. “Every person and every party has a different threat and I accept that BJP members are more vulnerable than others,” Kumar said.
He added that policemen were being trained in a better manner to tackle such situations and neutralize militants on their own. He also put the number of militants active in Srinagar city at six.
“They will be neutralized soon,” he said.

Suhail A Shah