J&K Police Say Captured Militant Killed in Srinagar Encounter

Srinagar: Two militants including a top commander Nadeem Abrar was killed in an operation in Srinagar’s Maloora locality after the latter was apprehended at a checkpoint in the city outskirts earlier on Monday, June 28.

Abrar was arrested along the Parimpora highway after a police and CRPF checkpost stopped a private vehicle in which the top Lashkar e Toiba (LeT) militant was travelling. 

“The person sitting at the back seat tried to open his bag and took out a grenade. The Naka party swiftly swung into action and grabbed the person sitting at the back seat,” a police statement read. 

A video of Abrar being apprehended by security personnel was widely shared on social media networking sites. The police claimed to have recovered one pistol and hand grenades from his possession.

The police had received, according to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar, an input about militants “planning an attack” on the highway. 

The IGP added that Abrar was put to joint interrogation by J&K Police, CRPF and the Army following which he disclosed that he had kept his AK-47 rifle in a house located at Maloora. 

The police claimed that the arrested militant was taken to that house to recover the weapon as a cordon was laid around the suspected house. 

“When the party was entering the house to recover the alleged weapon, one of his associate, a Pakistani terrorist (about whom he didn’t disclose anything) hiding inside the house fired at the party,” the IGP told media. 

The police further said that in the initial fire, three CRPF personnel were injured and Abrar who was accompanying the search party was also “hit”. The armed forces evacuated the injured security forces personnel and the rest of the party took position and called for reinforcement, according to them. 

As the encounter ensued the armed forces were able to kill the militant, believed to be a foreigner, and in the meantime Abrar, reported to be involved in several killings, was killed as well. The police official claimed that two AK-47 rifles along with ammunitions were also recovered from the gunfight site.

The LeT militant had joined the militant ranks in December 2018 and was put in the list of most wanted militants earlier in March. A resident of Eidgah mohalla locality of Narbal, he was among the eight top militants active in and around Srinagar. 

Over 65 militants have been killed in Kashmir region this year so far with over two dozen in the last two months. The militants attacks have also increased, especially in June which witnessed five security forces killings and seven civilian killings in separate incidents. 

The authorities have scaled up security measures in and around Srinagar city as it has witnessed an increase in violence this year. The growing attacks on security installations and the targeted assassinations have increased concerns and the overall security situation remains uncertain. 

The police official said the target killings are aimed to create a “fear psychosis” to disrupt the ongoing tourist season. “We can’t stop our men from going home on leave. They are from this place and have a right to visit their families,” he added. 

The IGP said that he attended a meeting at the GOC 15 Corps along with other security agencies in view of the recent attack at the Air Force base in Jammu. He termed the attack as a “new technical threat” following which the security installations in the region have been put on an alert.  

“It’s a new challenge and a technical threat, and we will deal with it technically. Deployment has been made at vital installations but details of that can’t be shared,” IGP Kumar said.