A militant involved in the April 22 attack in Pahalgam that resulted in the death of 26 people was among three people killed in a gunfight in the forest area in the outskirts of Srinagar city.
According to security officials a search operation was launched in the forest area in the closer vicinity of Dachigam national park, which is a wildlife park that lies closer to famous Dal Lake which routinely remains bustling with tourists. As soon as the “contact was established” with the militants a gunfights ensued that resulted in the death of three of them.
Army officials said this afternoon that a contact “was established with the militants” in Lidwas area this afternoon. Subsequently army said that three militants were killed in the gunfight while the combing operation was ongoing.
Local residents of the villages on the Lidwas route said that the encounter about which they only learnt on social media took place deep in the woods. “The area is far off and we learnt it on the social media and through the news that an encounter has taken place in the area,” said Mehrajudin Reshi, a local resident of Chak Dara, that lies in the outskirts of Srinagar.
An Army spokesperson said that the identity of the militants was being ascertained. “We will release the identity of the militants and issue a statement,” he said.
A police official also added that the identification of the militants was underway and no “official statement has been released so far.”
Police officials have said that the searches were going on in the area after the gunfight which was launched as they gathered information about the presence of militants. The area, according to local residents, has no human habitation nearby and lies at around a distance of 30- 40 kilometers from the place like Chak Dara. “It is a deep forest range and we didn’t even hear the gunshots,” said Mehrajudin.
Earlier after the Pahalgam attack, security forces launched several operations across Kashmir and rounded up people. The security forces also launched encounters based on specific information to gun down militants, who it believed were of the same group that carried out the Pahalgam militant attack.
On the day of the militant attack in the picturesque Pahalgam town, search operation was launched in the Baisaran Valley where the attack took place. During the searches helicopters were also pressed into service, but the militants managed to escape from the cordon site.
Earlier the Anantnag Police issued the posters of those who were behind the Pahalgam attack. The police said that a local militant from the South Kashmir’s Anantnag, area, Adil Hussain Thoker, and two Pakistani nationals, who were identified as Ali Bhai alias Talha bhai and Hashim Musa alias Suleiman were behind the attack in Pahalgam. Police had announced a reward of Rs 20 lakh for information that would have led to the arrest of any of the militants. Security officials said that it was the attack was carried out by the militant outfit, “The Resistance Front (TRF)” which has however denied its role in the attack.
