A soldier among 5 killed, 30 injured in J and K

Srinagar, July 27: A soldier was among five people killed and 22 others wounded overnight while security forces busted hideouts and recovered war like stores in Jammu and Kashmir, official sources said today.

They said militants shot dead one Rafiq at Tekya Barmulla in north Kashmir late last night.

Militants attacked a patrol party of security forces at Handwara in the frontier district of Kupwara last evening, security forces also returned the fire and in the exchange of fire one Malik Dar was killed.

A report from Jammu said that militants hurled a hand grenade towards a house at Misri Pranu in Doda district of Jammu region last night. The grenade exploded inside killing a girl Sakeena Bano on the spot and injuring six others including Ghulam Mohammad, Imraan, Salman and Rashid. The injured were admitted to hospital.

Police said, that the son of the house owner Ghulam Mohammad, Shabbir Ahmed was an ex-militant and this could be the reason behind the attack.

In another incident militants barged into the house of Wali Mohammad at Sajan village and killed a young girl Zubadia by slitting her throat in a cowshed.

Sources in Srinagar said militants threw a hand grenade towards a patrol party at Woyen, about 15 km from here this afternoon. It exploded on the roadside causing injuries to two soldiers, including a junior officer, and two women. The injured were hospitalised. They said militants hurled a hand grenade towards security forces near a water tank at Bug, Sopore, at 1030 hrs.

However, it missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to 18 persons, including three women. The injured were admitted to hospitals at Sopore. Six of the seriously injured were admitted to hospital in Srinagar.

Later, hundreds of people, including women, took to streets at Sopore demanding immediate action against the security forces who allegedly hurled a hand grenade on civilians from a running vehicle at Bug in which 18 people were injured.

The demonstrators raised anti-security force and pro-freedom slogans blocking traffic on the main road. The police had to resort to lathicharge to disperse the agitating crowd.

Meanwhile, chairman of the breakaway Hurriyat Conference (HC) Syed Ali Shah Geelani condemned the police lathicharge.

Mr Geelani, in a statement here this afternoon, said Kashmiri youth are being killed in fake encounters and thousands are languishing in jails for years without any trial.

Calling for a two-day strike against President A P J Abdul Kalam's visit starting tomorrow, he said,'' We call for a strike since he is the supreme commander of the Indian security forces who are commiting Human Rights violations in the valley.'' Sources in Srinagar said one of the soldier, who was injured in an encounter at Shopian last night, died in the hospital.

Security forces and Special Operation Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir police have launched a massive search operation in about a dozen villages of south Kashmir to nab militants responsible for killing three soldiers last night.
They said security forces cordoned off Reniora and five nearby villages early this morning, looking for militants who managed to escape after a fierce encounter in which two soldiers were killed on the spot and one succumbed to injuries in the hospital later. They said based on specific information, security forces and SOG launched a joint operation at villages Renipora and Shopian, in south Kashmir yesterday afternoon.

However, when the security forces were sealing the exit points, militants attacked them with automatic weapons and hurled hand grenades.

The troops retaliated and reinforcement was rushed from nearby camps to the village.

The militants later managed to escape from the area under the cover of darkness.

Sources said all the male members of these villages were paraded before the ''cats'' security force informers and house-to-house searches conducted. Some suspected people were reportedly taken into custody.

Jammu and Kashmir police and the Rashitriya Rifles (RR) today busted a hideout in the woods while one ultra surrendered along with arms and ammunition in the frontier district of Kupwara.

A police spokesman said state police and 6 RR launched a joint operation in the woods at Herprada Vilgam in Kupwara district early this morning following a tip off that militants had stored arms and ammunition there.

He said after a long search in the forest area, security forces finally unearthed the specially built hideout.

Later, a large cache of arms and ammunition including four AK rifles, 1400 rounds of ammunition, one pika gun with 300 rounds, seven RPG shells with 16 boosters were recovered from the hideout.

He said the arms and ammunition were dumped by the militants after smuggling them from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). These were to be distributed among the militants operating in north Kashmir to target security forces and civilians, he said.

No one was however, arrested.

Spokesman said a militant Ghulam Mohmmad Mir surrendered along with one pistol, one magazine and one wireless set at Kakroosa under police station Vilgam.

UNI