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Three children hurt in shell explosion near encounter site in Heff Shirmal
The children were at the encounter site fiddling with things when a shell exploded, injuring them, said an official of Shopian police
Srinagar: Three children were injured when a shell left behind at an encounter site in Shopian exploded on Tuesday, police said.
They said that the three children in the age group of 12-14 years were roaming around the site of yesterday’s encounter at Heff Shirmal in Shopian where a militant was killed in a gunfight with security forces on Monday.
“The children were at the encounter site fiddling with things when a shell exploded, injuring them,” said an official of Shopian police.
He said that the children were rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment. According to last reports, all three are said to be stable, he said.
“We have repeatedly urged people to tread cautiously near the encounter sites, till they are cleared of explosives,” he said.
The encounter on Monday started when a joint search party of police, army and CRPF approached the suspected spot, the militant started firing indiscriminately.
Dead militant a local: Cops
Srinagar: The militant killed in an encounter on Monday evening in Heff Shirmal has been identified as a local. An Army man was also injured in the operation, officials said.
Police said the operation that began yesterday was called off today after a proper search operation in the village.
Police spokesman said that yesterday at about 1400 hours, acting on specific information generated by police regarding the presence of a terrorist in village Heff Shirmal area of Shopian, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, Army (44RR) and CRPF (178Bn) in the village.
“During the search operation, as the joint search party approached the suspected spot, the hiding terrorist fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party which was retaliated effectively, leading to an encounter. In the initial exchange of fire, an Army Jawan received gunshot injuries and was evacuated to hospital for treatment of his injuries,” the spokesman said, adding that one local terrorist identified as Aqib Ahmad Paul, son of Drawani Shopian linked with proscribed terror outfit LeT, was killed and his body was retrieved from the site of encounter.
“As per police records, the deceased was a categorized terrorist and involved in terror crime cases including attacks on police and the security forces. Arms, ammunition and other incriminating materials of the proscribed terror outfit LeT were recovered from the site of the encounter. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation. A case was registered, and an investigation is ongoing”
