Man behind Ayub Pandith’s lynching among 3 militants killed in Budgam: Police

A man responsible for the lynching of a police officer at Jamia Masjid in Srinagar last month was reportedly among three militants killed by security forces in central Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday.

A police officer said the encounter occurred after security personnel launched a cordon-and-search operation in Redbug area on Tuesday evening, after receiving specific intelligence inputs on the presence of militants in the area. “The militants started firing at us. Subsequently, we halted the operation for the night but maintained the cordon to prevent them from escaping,” he added.

The gunfight resumed in the morning, and the three militants were killed. They were identified as Hizbul district commander Javed Sheikh, Dawood and Sajad Ahmed Gilkar. “An AK-56 assault rifle, a self-loading rifle, a pistol and seven magazines were recovered from the scene of the shootout,” said deputy inspector general M Dinakaran.

A police statement said Gilkar had played a key role in the lynching of DySP Mohammad Ayub Pandith in Nowhatta on June 23, besides a number of other terror-related incidents. He had recently joined the ranks of the Hizbul Mujahideen.

Dinakaran said villagers began pelting stones at security personnel during the shootout, apparently to help the militants escape. “But we managed to chase them away,” he added.

(With agency inputs)