Saleem Pandit  

Two Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists were killed on Wednesday in an encounter with security forces in Nowgam area in the outskirts of Srinagar. J&K police said a joint team of the Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifles, SOG and CRPF had launched a cordonand-search operation after receiving specific intelligence inputs on Tuesday about the presence of terrorists in a house in Sathu area of Nowgam in Srinagar district.

One of the two terrorists, Sabzar Ahmad Sofi, 32, of Anantnag district, had studied at Barkatullah University in Bhopal. He was a brilliant student who did his MSc in Botany. The university refused to divulge the year in which Sofi studied and passed out. After completing his MSc, Sofi went to Gwalior for MPhil. His aide, Asif Ahmad Gojri, also of Anantnag, had joined militant ranks in January this year. Soon after the encounter, residents of Nowgam rushed to the spot and pelted stones on security forces.

Separatists Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, and Mohammad Yasin Malik of JKLF called for a shutdown on October 25, against the killing of Sofi, whom they called a “scholar”, and his associate.

With inputs from Ramendra Singh

Saleem.Pandit@timesgroup.com

Courtesy: Times of India: 25th Oct, 2018