Four unarmed protesters and a soldier died during a fierce gunfight and simultaneous public protests in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday. Three terrorists holed up inside a residential house reportedly fled from the encounter site after inflicting casualties on the security forces. The separatists have called for two-day shutdown against the killings.

Sources said that Rashtriya Rifles troops along-with police and paramilitary CRPF cordoned off Khudwani, Wanpoh area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district late on Tuesday evening following specific information on presence of militants in a residential house. The siege was tightened during the night as the hideout was kept under flood lights to ensure militants did not escape during the dead of night. However, the situation turned ugly at the crack of dawn when announcements were made from mosques asking the people to rush towards the encounter site to help militants escape.

During the initial exchange of fire, a soldier identified as Sepoy S Gunakar Roy was hit with a bullet. He was immediately shifted to hospital where he succumbed to injuries. Two more soldiers injured in the shootout were undergoing treatment at Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar, officials said.

The security forces said that that two to three militants including a ‘commander’ of banned Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) outfit were trapped in the area. However, the militants managed to flee from the cordoned house after a huge crowd of protesters hampered the operation.

Eyewitnesses said the security forces opened fire on the protesters to keep them away from the encounter site. At least four protesters died sustained grievous firearm injuries and later succumbed. One among the slain civilians is from Shopian district. Another civilian adult sustaining critical injuries is undergoing treatment at Srinagar hospital.

Police said the civilians were killed in cross fire. More than two dozen civilian protesters were also reported injured during clashes. The slain civilians have been identified as Sarjeel Ahmad Sheikh, Bilal Ahmad Tantray, Faisal Illahi and Aijaz Ahmad Palla.

Courtesy: The Pioneer, Thursday, 12 April 2018 | Khursheed Wani | Srinagar