SRINAGAR: A General Engineering Reserve Force (GREF) labourer was killed and four others including a BSF man injured in Pakistani troops firing and shelling along Line of Control (LoC) in Mankote and Krishna Ghat sectors in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday while security forces shot dead two militants in a gunfight in volatile Sopore area of north Kashmir and a youth from Srinagar, who had joined militancy last week, returned to home.
Defence Spokesman in Jammu, Lt Col Manish Mehta said Pakistani troops breached border ceasefire in Nowshera sector of Rajouri district and Krishna Ghati sector Poonch district early this morning.
He said the Pakistani troops restored to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling on army positions and civilian areas in both the places.
“The army men also effectively returned the fire,” Mehta said.
An official said a mortar shell fired by Pakistani troops landed in civilian area in Mankote sector of Poonch district when GREF labourers were working on construction of road near the LoC.
He said three GREF labourers identified as Parvez Ahmed, Radha Krishnan and Sarvan Kumar and a civilian were injured after sustaining splinter injuries.
“They were evacuated to a nearby hospital, where critically injured GREF labourer Parvez succumbed to injuries. Two other critically injured were referred to GMC hospital Jammu for specialized treatment,” the official said.
A BSF official said a BSF Head constable was injured in Pakistani troops firing and mortar shelling in KG sector.
“He has been shifted to hospital, where doctors have declared his condition as out of danger,” he said.
Meanwhile, two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in an encounter with security forces in Sopore area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district this morning.
A police spokesman said acting on a specific information about presence of militants, police, paramilitary CRPF and army men launched a search operation at Mir Mohalla, Natipora area of Sopore this morning.
“During combing operation, security men zeroed-in on a residential house where the militants were hiding. The militants fired on the search party and in retaliatory firing, two Hizb militants were killed,” he said.
The slain militants were identified as Aijaz Ahmad Mir and Basharat Ahmad Sheikh, both residents of Sopore and both had joined militancy last year.
The police spokesman said the slain militants were the brain behind yesterday’s grenade attack on police party in Sopore in which four policemen were injured.
“The police investigation into the grenade attack revealed that two newly HM recruitment Mehraj-ud-Din Mir and Mohammad Rafiq Lone had lobbed the grenade and both were identified through CCTV footage. Police arrested the duo last night and during their questioning and further investigation, it came to fore that they were motivated to join militancy and attack police and security forces by the two militants, who were killed in an encounter today,” he said.
He said police solved the grenade attack case within less than 24 hours by arresting two militants, who threw the grenade and killed their motivators and commanders.
Meanwhile, in a surprising development, an 18-year-old Srinagar youth, Tufail Ahmed Mir, who had reportedly joined militancy last week and his picture wielding an AK-47 rifle had gone viral on social media, has returned home, DIG Police Central Kashmir Ghulam Hassan Bhat told media persons, here today.
He said Tufail, who was a BCom Ist year student, returned home.
The police officer, however, did not disclose what prompted the youth to join militancy and then return back.
Tufail, a resident of Parimpora area in outskirts of Srinagar had left his home May 17 and did not return back. On May 24, his picture with AK-47 rifle had gone viral on social media.