Anantnag: Police said that a militant affiliated with Hizbul Mujahideen was killed in an early morning gunfight in Arwini area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The slain was identified as Shahzad Ahmad Seh son of Bashir Ahmad Seh resident of Sehpora Kulgam. His body was retrieved from the site of encounter, police said.
The gunfight, as per the police, took place in the Mumanhal area of Arwini in Anantnag.
Police said that there were specific inputs regarding the presence of militants in the area, following which a cordon and search operation was launched at about 5 am on Friday.
“The hiding militant was zeroed in on and was asked to surrender. He however decided to open fire at security forces, which was duly retaliated triggering a gunfight,” the police official said.
He said that the militant was killed in a brief exchange of fire following which a search operation was launched in the area to ascertain whether there were other militants holed up in the area.
“The operation was called off after no further contact was established in the area,” the official said, adding that some families were called in to identify the slain militant.
Following the identification process, the official said, the body will be sent to north Kashmir for burial.
The authorities in Kashmir have stopped handing over the bodies of the slain militants to their families citing Covid protocol since April last year.
Meanwhile, there were no reports of any house being damaged in the gunfight. “The gunfight took place in the open,” the local sources said. Authorities snapped mobile internet services in several Anantnag areas, as the gunfight was going on. The internet was restored later in the day.
Today’s gunfight took place only a day after an ASI of the police was shot at and killed in nearby Bijbehara town. Inspector General of Police (IGP), Vijay Kumar, visited the house of the slain policeman in Awantipora area of Pulwama district.

Suhail A Shah