At the encounter site on Friday. (Express Photo by Shuaib Masoodi)
A BTech graduate, who had joined militancy just four days ago, was among two militants killed in an encounter in north Kashmir’s Sopore Friday. An Armyman was also killed in the gunfight, while two Armymen, including a Major, and a policeman were injured. The police had called the family of the trapped militant to the encounter site to help convince him to surrender, but they failed.
On Thursday night, a joint team of police, Army and paramilitary forces cordoned off Drusso village at Behrampora in Sopore after receiving information about the presence of militants there. Around midnight, as forces zeroed in on the house where the militants were hiding, the militants opened fire, triggering a gunfight that lasted till Friday morning. Police have identified the slain militants as Khursheed Ahmad of Pulwama and Riyaz Ahmad Dar of Sopore.
Police had called family members of Khursheed from Pulwama — about 90 km from the encounter site — to help convince him to surrender but he refused. “They (family members) spoke to him over the phone, but he refused,” SP Javed Iqbal told The Indian Express. “We tried to send the civilians inside to motivate him but he was opening fire. Then we decided against sending his family members inside,” he said.
A resident of Aerbal village in Pulwama, 23-year-old Khursheed joined militancy four days ago. “He had completed his BTech from Jammu,” his uncle Jalal-ud-din Malla said. “He had also applied for the post of a police Sub-Inspector and had cleared all the tests. Only the viva was left.” After he went missing, Khursheed’s parents had shot a video, appealing to him to return home.
The other militant, 22-year-old Riyaz Ahamd Dar, joined militant ranks last month. Riyaz, family sources said, was released from jail early this year. He was detained under the Public Safety Act for two years over allegations of stone-throwing.