Seven killed in J&K violence

JAMMU/SRINAGAR: Seven persons, including two special police officers, were killed and four civilians injured in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours, officials said on Saturday.

 

One militant had been killed in an encounter with a joint team of Rashtriya Rifles and police at Kasblari village in Poonch district on Saturday afternoon, police said.

 

The encounter was continuing as two more militants were trapped in the security forces cordon, they said.

 

Another gunbattle was on between militants and security forces at Donadi in Pulwama district and one ultra had been killed so far, an official spokesman said.

 

In Bhallesa area of Doda district, two SPOs German Singh and Ishwar Lal were shot dead by two colleagues after being locked up the Chinyas police post early Saturday, Jammu zone IGP S P Vaid said.

 

The two SPOs were fired at by their colleagues in connivance with militants who may have been waiting outside, he said, adding the post was set up in the house of a surrendered militant Javed Iqbal.

 

After killing the two, Iqbal and another SPO Abdul Gayoom fled with weapons, including AK and other self-loading rifles, the officer said.

 

In another incident, some militants barged into the house of a surrendered ultra at Chacha village in Gandoh tehsil of the same district last night and killed him.

 

The ultras forced him to accompany them and later shot him dead, officials said, adding the militants also injured his wife when she tried to intervene.

 

At Gadole-Kukernag in Anantnag district, ultras shot dead a shepherd outside his house last night, the spokesman said.

 

A driver who had aided the arrest of a Lashkar-e-Toiba militant after a deadly suicide attack on a telephone exchange in Srinagar some years ago, was shot dead in the high-security Sonawar area of the city on Friday evening.

 

A young girl was injured in the shooting, he said.

 

Militants also shot at and critically injured two persons at the busy bus stand at Bandipora, 55 km from Srinagar, on Saturday, the spokesman said.

 

Fruit seller Farooq Ahmed Guroo and a mechanic Ahmad Pandit where showered with bullets at close range and they were being treated for critical injuries at a Srinagar hospital.

 

Meanwhile, security forces recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Mohalla in Poonch district during a search operation yesterday, sources said.

 

Three hand grenades, nine ubgl grenades, two mines, 348 rounds of AK ammunition and three AK magazines were recovered, they said.