Colonel, Major among five security personnel killed in Handwara encounter
Srinagar, May 3 (PTI) An Army Colonel and a Major were among five security personnel killed in an encounter at a village in Handwara in north Kashmir that also saw the killing of two militants, officials said on Sunday.
Army officers Col Ashutosh Sharma and Major Anuj, and Jammu and Kashmir Police Sub-Inspector Shakeel Qazi were among the deceased, they said.
Col Sharma was leading a team to rescue civilians who had been taken hostage by the militants hiding in a house at the Chanjmullah area of Handwara in frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Saturday, the officials said.
As the hostages were being rescued, the team, which also consisted of a Lance Naik and a Rifleman, came under heavy fire which was effectively retaliated by the security personnel in the outer cordon, they said.
In the early hours of Sunday, a major offensive was launched by the security forces as there had been no contact with the Colonel or his team, the officials said.
Two militants were killed in the encounter, they said.
A senior police officer also confirmed the death of the five security men and two militants. The officer said that the “operation has been concluded” as bodies of the slain militants have also been recovered along with two weapons and other “warlike stores”. He said that both the militants were foreigners and their group affiliation and identities are being ascertained.
“In this connection, a case under relevant sections of law has been registered and further investigations were taken up,” the officer said.
Pertinently, a search operation was started by the army’s 15 and 21RR besides 9 para commandoes and police in Rajwar and Mawar forest areas of Handwara on Friday afternoon amid reports that a group of militants was hiding there.
The search team had also fired several warning shots during the cordon and search operation following which an encounter ensued. The militants later took shelter inside a residential house in nearby area and army and police cordoned off the village and sealed all possible ways to prevent the militants from escaping. (with PTI and GNS inputs)
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