Local militant killed in gunfight, M4 carbine among arms recovered in Shopian
Indian Army claimed to have recovered a US-made M4 carbine weapon and 36 Armour piercing rounds from the slain militant in Shopian gunfight.
A local militant was killed in a gunfight between government forces and militants in Rawalpora area of south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday.
Sources said that a local militant has been killed in the ‘operation’ while searches continue in the area, as the area is being ‘sanitized’.
The gunfight erupted last evening after a joint team of government forces including J&K Police, Indian Army’s 34 RR and CRPF launched a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) after ‘inputs’ about the presence of militants in the area.
Soon after, the area witnessed gunshot sounds, which signaled the outbreak of the gun battle. Later, the ‘operation’ by the government forces was suspended due to darkness and was resumed this morning.
In the ensuing encounter, one local militant has been killed. The identity of the slain has, however, not been revealed.
Meanwhile, the Indian Army claimed to have recovered a US-made M4 carbine weapon and 36 Armour piercing rounds from the slain militant.
The Army on its official Twitter handle wrote that they have recovered US-made M4 Carbine, 3, Magazines, 36 Armour piercing rounds and Rs 9600 from the gunfight site.
It is pertinent to mention here that some media reports were doing rounds last evening which claimed that a top Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) commander Wilayat alias Sajad Afghani was among the trapped militants in Rawalpora. However, sources called the slain militant as ‘local’ only.
Amid all this, a 22-year-old youth reportedly suffered injury in his left eye due to pellets fired by the government forces to disperse protesters amid the gunfight at Rawalpora area.
The injured youth, as per local media reports, has been identified as Arif Ahmed Wagay son of Nazir Ahmed Wagay of Rakhnara Shopian. He has been admitted to SMHS Hospital Srinagar, where he is being treated. As usual, mobile Internet services have been snapped in the Shopian district as a ‘precautionary measure’.
In a press statement, police said that one militant identified as Jahangir Ahmad Wani son of late Abdul Rehman Wani resident of Rakh Narapora Shopian, affiliated with outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba, was killed.
As per police records, the slain militant was active since 01/09/2020 and was involved in several militancy crime cases including attacks on security forces and ‘civilian atrocities’.
“Arms & ammunition including the USA made M4 Carbine rifle and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of encounter so far. All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe his complicity in other militant crimes,” police said.
“During the encounter, three houses caught fire while a group of miscreants tried to disrupt the operation and created law & order problem near the encounter site during which some miscreants were also injured. However, to track the other hiding militants, cordon and search operation in the area is still going on,” the police statement said.
