Another CASO in Vehil area set up for the night

Shopian: Three militants are trapped in an ongoing encounter with government forces at Tulran village in Imamsahib belt of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.

This encounter is the fourth in Jammu and Kashmir in less than 24 hours.

Official sources confirmed that exchange of fire with militants had started after they refused to surrender. They said that three militants are hiding in a residential house and are engaged in a gunfight with government forces.

On Monday afternoon a joint team of government forces including 34 Rashtriya Rifles of army, Jammu and Kashmir Police and central reserve police force (CRPF) launched a cordon and search operation in the village after “credible inputs about the presence of militants in the village”.

Police sources said that after more than three hours of intensive searches, contact with militants, who are three in number, has been established.

In a video shot by the police, a senior police officer can be heard appealing to militants to surrender. However, a police source said that militants refused to lay down arms and after that the exchange of fire resumed.

The encounter was going on when this report was being filed but there were no reports of any fatality or injury on either side.

Meanwhile, another cordon and search operation is going on at Firpora village in Vehil area of Shopian.

The operation was launched by joint team of government forces including 34 Rashtriya Rifles of army, Jammu and Kashmir police and central reserve police force after inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

Local sources said that cordon has been intensified and reinforcement has been called in while lights have been installed by the forces.

A police source said that there is possibility that the contact with militants may have been established. He refused to comment about the number of militants present in the area.

Raashid Hassan