Terrorist, 3 protestors killed, trooper injured in Budgam

Shabir Ahmad

SRINAGAR: A Lashkar-e-Tayyaba terrorist and three protestors were killed in Durbugh village of Chadoora area of Budgam in Central Kashmir on Tuesday while a paratrooper was also injured in the encounter.
The militant was hiding in house of a doctor who was arrested in a militancy case in 2015. The encounter started at 6.18 a.m. after the Special Operation Group (SOG) of J&K Police and Rashtriya Rifles (RR) cordoned off the house of Dr Shahid Ahmad Baba in Durbugh village of Budgam. The cordon was established at 4 a.m. The doctor is settled in United Kingdom and his wife is in Pakistan.
The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT) militant, identified as Touseef Wagay, a resident of Yaripora, Kulgam, was involved in attacks, weapon snatching and local recruitment in terror ranks.
Acting on specific information about presence of the militant, when security forces closed in on the house where the militant was hiding, they were fired upon, sparking of the gunfight.
As soon as the encounter started, hundreds of people entered the cordoned off area and tried to disrupt the encounter. They tried to help the militant to flee. However, the SOG, Army and Para commandos foiled the bid.
“It was a challenging situation after civilians entered the encounter site,” SSP Budgam, Wasim Qadri told The News Now.
The gunfight ended in the afternoon when the lone militant holed up in the house was killed.
"The body of the slain militant and his weapon were recovered from the site of the gunfight," he said.
A soldier was also injured in the gunfight that lasted for nearly 10 hours.
The security forces fired tear gas shells but the protestors did not back away.
Three youths, identified as Zahid Rashid Ganai, Saqib Ahmed and Ishfaq Ahmed Wani were killed when security forces opened fire on protestors trying to foil the operation.
The three youth were shifted to hospital where they succumbed to their injuries.
Zahid Rashid was a resident of Chadoora while Saqib Ahmed hailed from Kralwari Chadoora. Ishfaq Ahmed was resident of Rengreith Srinagar.
Protesting youths also pelted stones at vehicles of the Central Reserve Police Force at Nagam village, three km away from Durbugh, as they were bringing troopers to augment the security forces engaged in gunfight.
Deputy Inspector General (DIG), Central Kashmir Range, Ghulam Hassan Bhat said that a militant was killed in an encounter.
“One army man was also injured in an encounter,” Bhat said adding that three civilians were also killed during the clashes that erupted during the encounter.
Para Commandos were used during the 10 hour long gunfight. They blew up the concrete house with help of mines, grenades and Rocket Projectile Guns.
Police said that four days ago, Touseef had entered the house of deputy superintendent of jail and set ablaze a vehicle.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had warned civilians of “tough action” if they tried to hinder security forces engaging with militants.
Reports said that civilian killings sparked spontaneous shutdown in Chadoora, Pakharpora, Charar-e-Sharif and other areas.
The separatists have issued a valley-wide hartal call for Wednesday.
It is pertinent to mention that on Aug 2, 2015, the police arrested Dr Baba along with his brother, cousin and maternal uncle while on way to airport from their residence at Chadoora.
Police had said that Dr Baba was part of a local militant module which has received Rs 10 lakhs for their activities in Kashmir.