Majid Jahangir  

Paramilitary soldiers rush to an encounter site in Batmaloo area of Srinagar on

A policeman of the Special Operation Group (SOG) was killed and five security men were injured in a gunfight that raged in a Srinagar’s congested Batamaloo locality on Sunday morning.

The gunfight started around 4 am when joint teams of the J&K Police and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation after inputs about presence of two to three militants in the area.

“The CASO turned into a gunfight when hiding militants fired indiscriminately upon the security forces. In the initial gunfight, three policemen and an equal number of the CRPF men were injured. One of the injured policemen later succumbed to injuries,” a senior security officer said.

There has been no fresh exchange of fire between the two sides as militants in the area may have escaped from the gunbattle site taking advantage of darkness. However, the search operation is going on in the area.

The slain cop was identified as Selection Grade Constable Parvaiz Ahmed, a resident of village Dandote in Rajouri district.

A police spokesman in Srinagar said militants were hiding in a house which had a proper hideout.

“While the searches in the area were going on, terrorist hiding in a house fired indiscriminately on the security forces. However, security forces exercised maximum restraint in retaliation considering the residential population and other civil establishments around the area,” the spokesman said.

The police also detained two accomplices of the militants.

“Incriminating material was recovered from the site of encounter. Besides two accomplices of the terrorists have been detained,” he said.

A group of youth later pelted the security forces with stones near the encounter site.

Mobile Internet services were suspended in Srinagar district as a precautionary security measure.

The gunfight in the Srinagar locality comes just three days ahead of the Independence Day. Batamaloo, the area where the gunfight took place, is barely 4-5 km from the main venue of the Independence-Day function in Srinagar.

This month there has been a series of gunfight that left at least 16 militants and six security men dead.

Meanwhile, a wreath-laying ceremony for Parvaiz was held at District Police Lines Srinagar.

“Senior Civil and Police officers paid rich tributes to the martyr and laid floral wreaths on the mortal remains for his supreme sacrifice made in the line of duty, today at Batamaloo Srinagar,” the spokesman said.

Courtesy: The Tribune: Tribune News Service: 12 Aug 2018