Forces gun down militant in Awantipora

Awantipora superintendent of police Tahir Saleem said security personnel cordoned Churso village following inputs about the presence of militants early in the morning.

A local militant was killed in an encounter with security personnel in Awantipora in south Kashmir on Tuesday, officials said. The militant, a resident of Bijbehara, is believed to have been in his teens.

File Picture of Militant who was killed during an encounter with security forces in Awantipora on Tuesday. (ANI photo)

Awantipora superintendent of police Tahir Saleem said security personnel cordoned Churso village following inputs about the presence of militants early in the morning. “When we zeroed in on a house, we were informed that a youth is inside with a weapon and that is when we tried to convince him to surrender,” he said.

“We were ready to prolong the operation and engaged him into negotiations. We brought his family members including his father and uncle from Arwani, Bijbehara (in Anantnag) and sent them inside the house. I also talked to him on phone but he was not ready to give up,” he said.

“I just told him to put his weapon inside and come out walking but he did not. The negotiations were going on till 10:15 am. Suddenly he jumped out, threw a grenade and opened fire prompting us to retaliate. He was killed in the process,” he said.

An official at police control room Anantnag said they were not aware which militant organisation he was affiliated with. “His parents filed a missing report on January 2. He had no adverse record,” he said.

Police spokesman Manoj Kumar said arms and ammunition were recovered from the site of encounter and they are ascertaining the person’s affiliations.

This was the first encounter in Kashmir this year, although there was a grenade blast in Old City Srinagar on Saturday in which a teenager was injured.

Last year on November 26, two militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Tahab Rajpora area of Pulwama in south Kashmir.