Kulgam CASO called off

Bijbehara: Police said that they killed a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander, active since a year now, in a gunfight here in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
The slain militant was identified as Nisar Ahmad Dar, alias Musaib, son of Ghulam Hassan Dar, a resident of Redwini Bala area of Kulgam district.
“He was active since April 2021 and was a categorized militant, involved in killing of civilians and non-local labourers,” a police official said.
He said that many FIRs stand registered against him and he was wanted in these cases.
Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP), Vijay Kumar, has termed the killing of Dar as a success and has appreciated the forces’ teams involved in the operation.
The operation was launched in the wee hours of Saturday in Sirhama village on the outskirts of Bijbehara town of Anantnag district.
“The house where the militant was hiding was soon identified and zeroed in on. He was asked to surrender but he chose to open indiscriminate fire instead,” the official said.
He said that Dar was killed in the ensuing gunfight. “His body, along with arms ammunition and some incriminating material has been retrieved from the site of the gunfight,” the official said, while he maintained that the body of the militant will be sent to North Kashmir for burial.
Authorities have refused to hand over bodies of slain militants to their families, since April 2020, when they cited Covid protocol as a reason. They have continued with the practice and the slain militants are being buried at undisclosed locations in North Kashmir, in presence of a few family members.
Local sources told Kashmir Reader that the house, the militant was hiding in, has suffered extensive damage during the gunfight.
Authorities have also snapped mobile internet services in some selected areas around the site of the gunfight.
Meanwhile, another cordon and search operation was called off in DH Pora area of Kulgam district as no contact could be established with militants following the initial exchange of fire.

Suhail A Shah