Hunt on to locate three militants in Srinagar

SRINAGAR:  After a series of attacks in Srinagar in the last four days, a senior police officer said on Wednesday that three militants and about 10 to 15 over ground workers were active in Srinagar and efforts were on to track them down.

There were two grenade attacks and a hit-and-run attack in Srinagar since last Friday. “In August last year, there was no presence of militants in Srinagar. However, in the first week of September, militant Abbas Sheikh shifted his base from Kulgam in south Kashmir to Srinagar and seven more militants had joined him in Srinagar,” Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir Vijay Kumar told reporters on the sidelines of a sports function in Srinagar.

Abbas Sheikh was chief of The Resistance Front, an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Toiba, and was killed along with his deputy in an encounter with the security forces in Aloochi  Bagh area of Srinagar on August 23.

Kumar said of the eight militants active in Srinagar, five have been killed in encounters and three are still active. “Besides, there are 10-15 Over Ground Workers (OGWs) of militants in Srinagar,” he said. On September 10 and 14, militants attacked a security post and camp at Chanapora and Mochoua area in Srinagar without causing any damage or loss of life. On September 12, militants shot dead a Sub Inspector of Police Ashid Mir at Khanyar area of downtown Srinagar. The attack was caught on CCTV.