Two militants killed in Mochwah encounter
Srinagar: Two militants were killed by security forces in an encounter that broke out on Tuesday night in Budgam district of central Kashmir, police said.
Security forces launched a cordon-and-search operation at Mochwah in Chadoora area of Budgam district around 7 pm on Tuesday following information about the presence of militants there, a police official said.
He said the search operation turned into an encounter around 9 pm after militants opened fire at security forces positions.
Two militants were killed in the gunbattle, which lasted nearly four hours.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar said that two militants including a Pakistani militant Ilyas were killed. “Second slain has been identified as Javaid Ahmed from Pulwama,” he said.
The IGP said that the role of Illyas in highway attacks can’t be ruled out and that police are investigating their involvement.
“We gave full opportunity to militants who were trapped at Mouchwa to surrender. However, they refused. We give ample time to local boys who get trapped in encounters to lay their weapons. I once again appeal parents to urge their youth who have picked up arms to return back to the mainstream and live with their families again,” the IGP said.
Meanwhile, police in a statement said that one of the slain militants was identified as Javaid Ahmad Ganie of Pulwama and the other has been identified as Khalid @Ilyas, a Pakistani national. “Both the militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM),” police said.
Police added that incriminating materials including arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter. “All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other cases,” police said.
The IGP said that one good thing has been happening this year that surrenders took place during live encounters as well.
“This year so far eight surrenders took place in live encounters in the Valley of which five militants surrendered in the month of October alone,” the IGP said, and termed it as a “welcome development.”
Replying to a query that encounters are taking place in Srinagar and city outskirts, he said it was because of the smooth flow of intelligence inputs and other technical information, Srinagar police comes to know about the militant movement in the city. “Police has a good network in the city,” he said (with inputs from PTI, KNO)
