Major With Roots in City Killed in Shopian Gunfight

An Army Major, a soldier and three militants were killed in a 22-hour-long gunfight in Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

An Army Major, a soldier and three militants were killed in a 22-hour-long gunfight in Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

“Based on inputs on the presence of three militants in Manlo in Shopian district, a joint operation was launched by the Army’s 44 Rashtriya Rifles, Special Operations Group of J&K police and paramilitary CRPF men last evening to flush out the militants hiding there,” said army spokesperson Lt Col N N Joshi and added that after sealing all the escape routes, security men zeroed-in on the residence of a person called Farooq Ahmad and asked militants hiding there to surrender.

“The militants rejected the offer and fired with sophisticated weapons on the security men. The fire was returned by the troops, triggering an encounter,” he said.

Police sources said security men blew up a portion of the house from where militants were firing on them.

“After firing from the militants’ side stopped, security men entered the house to retrieve bodies of the militants. As they stepped in, a militant rose from debris and fired indiscriminately on them, causing the death of sepoy Vikrant and critically injuring Major Mukund Varadarajan,” they said and added that Major Mukund was evacuated to the Army hospital in Srinagar, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

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