Army Havaldar, 3 militants killed, couple surrenders in J

Srinagar, Oct 29 (UNI) Security forces shot dead three militants while a soldier shot dead his senior colleague and wounded another in Jammu and Kashmir overnight.

Elsewhere in the state, a militant along with his wife surrendered before the security forces while the Army apprehended a Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant along with four teenage recruits.

Northern Command defence spokesman Brigadier J S Kataria told UNI in Jammu that soldier Satyam Kumar shot dead his senior colleague Havaldar Padma Rajan and wounded another jawan by firing from his service weapon while on duty following an altercation late last night at the Udhampur Military Garrison.

Kumar was immediately overpowered by other personnel and taken into custody, he added. ''It is prime facie a case of murder. The jawan has been taken into the custody and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident,'' the spokesman said.

This was the third incident of a soldier killing his colleagues while the fourth act was ''committed in distress'' during the past eight days in the Jammu region.

Earlier on October 21 (Diwali), a signalman shot dead three colleagues and attempted suicide in the border district of Rajouri.

Two days later, a trooper of the Rashtriya Rifles shot dead two colleagues before committing suicide in Rajouri. On Friday night, a soldier committed suicide in Poonch district of Jammu region.

An official spokesman here said security forces shot dead three militants in a gun-battle at Kasblari village in Mendhar area of Poonch district in Jammu region last evening.

Some arms and ammunition were also seized from the encounter site, he added.

The spokesman said a militant hailing from Shakerkull in Kupwara district accompanied by his wife surrendered before security forces at Uri after infiltrating to this side from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) early today. He handed over a pistol with a magazine and five rounds to the authorities, Meanwhile, troops today apprehended a LeT militant, Riaz Ahmed, along with four new young recruits at Killanwali in Mahore tehsil of Udhampur district in Jammu region, Nagrota-based XVI Corps spokesman Col D K Badola told UNI in Jammu.

Indentified as Jamaluddin, Ashiq Ali, Baharuddin and Nishant, the recruits were between the age group of 13 to 19 years and residents of Saldhar in Mahore, he said, adding a .303 rifle and a 12 bore gun along with some ammunition were seized from them, he added.

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