J&K encounter: Jawan killed, four civilians die in clashes

Srinagar: After a lull of four days, mayhem returned to Kashmir on Wednesday. Four civilians and an Army jawan were killed and nearly 50 people injured during a firefight between militants and security forces and simultaneous street clashes in the restive Valley’s southern Kulgam district.

The militants, believed to be Lashkar-e-Taiba cadres who were trapped inside a private house during a cordon-and-search operation, are reported to have escaped, much to the embarrassment of the security forces. According to the police, no bodies were found in the smouldering debris of the house during searches conducted after the guns fell silent.

“The operation has been called off after no militant bodies were retrieved from the debris of the blasted house,” a police official said.

Officials here said that fighting broke out at around 11 am on Wednesday after the security forces laid siege to Wani Mohalla of Khudwani area in Kulgam, about 72-km south of Srinagar.

They said a cordon-and-search operation was launched jointly by the Army’s 1 Rashtriya Rifles, the counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) of the J&K police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) following a tip-off about the presence of militants in Wani Mohalla. While the security personnel were moving into the locality, gunshots were heard and with that the encounter started, said a local resident.

During the initial exchange of gunfire, three security force personnel received grievous injuries, sources said adding that they were rushed to Srinagar’s 92 Base Army hospital where one of the injured Army jawans succumbed to his injuries.

Security forces used explosives, fired mortars and automatic weapon to blow up the house in which the militants were holed up, sources said. Witnesses added that an Army gunship helicopter was also used during the operation. One house was completely razed and two others caught fire during the operation, reports said.

While the firefight was underway, surging crowds made repeated attempts to reach the encounter site and clashed with the security forces, officials said. The security forces opened fire on stone-pelters who, they alleged, tried to disrupt the operation against militants, causing critical injuries to several persons. Four of them, identified as 16-year-old Bilal Ahmad Tantray, 28-year-old Sharjeel Ahmad Sheikh, 14-year-old Faisal Illahi and 30-year-old Aijaz Ahmad Palla, succumbed to injuries on way to or in hospitals.

The slain soldier has been identified as 24-year-old Sada Gunakara Rao, a resident of Atisurikaviti village in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. Rao, who is survived by his parents, had joined the Army in 2012, a defence spokesman here said.

The locals alleged that the Army fired indiscriminately into the protesting crowds, but a statement issued by the police here said that the civilians were caught in crossfire. A statement issued by it in read: “The three civilians, Sarjeel Sheikh of Khudwani, Bilal Ah Tantray of Frisal and Faisal Ilahi of Melhoora Shopian, who were injured in the crossfire, have also succumbed to their injuries.” The statement was silent on the death of the fourth civilian.

Reports from Kulgam said that the security forces also used batons and fired teargas canisters and pellet shotguns to quell the protests during and immediately after the encounter, injuring nearly 50 people.

The authorities immediately placed key separatist leaders under house arrest in Srinagar, closed educational institutions in Kulgam and in neighboring district of Anantnag and northwestern Sopore town, suspended trains services between Srinagar and Banihal and snapped mobile, internet services in some parts of the Valley.

The civilian killings in Kulgam sparked off protests in some other parts of the Valley, including northwestern town of Sopore. An official spokesman said that all educational institutions in the Valley except in Ganderbal district will remain closed on Thursday, and all board and university examinations scheduled for the day have been postponed.

“Joint Resistance Leadership”, the alliance of key separatist leaders, has called for a Valley-wide shutdown on Thursday to mourn and protest civilian deaths in Kulgam.  

Wednesday’s incidents come close on the heels of days of disturbances witnessed in Kashmir Valley in the aftermath of the killing of 14 militants and five civilians as security forces stepped up counterinsurgency measures in the first week of April.