Top militant commander among 3 killed, major tragedy averted in J

Srinagar, Aug 9 (UNI) A top militant commander was among the three people killed while security forces averted two major tragedies, arrested one person and unearthed a hideout in the Jammu and Kashmir overnight.

A CRPF spokesman said the jawan, posted on a patrol duty on the main road, saw a youth trying to remove the pin from the grenade at crowded Dalgate. However, before he could lob it after removing the safety pin, the jawan shot him dead.

A live grenade was recovered from the area, he said.

A bomb disposal squad was summoned to defuse the grenade.

Hundreds of locals, including women, took to streets alleging that the youth, a second year student of Amar Singh college Ghulam Mohammad Sheikh, resident of Towheed Gunj, Bandipora, was killed by CRPF personnel after some argument.

They alleged that a hand grenade was later planted in his hand by the CRPF.

The demonstrators, who also blocked traffic contested the claim of the CRPF that he was about to lob a hand grenade and said why the grenade was not exploded. They said that security forces deployed in the area had threatened to take revenge of August first when two CRPF personnel were killed by the militants in the same area.

Shops in the busy market remained closed since August first. The shopkeepers alleged that security forces deployed in the area are not allowing them to reopen the shops after the killing of two CRPF personnel on August first by militants.

About a dozen tourists from Kolkata and Gujarat were killed in three different grenade attacks in the same area last month.

However, one militant was overpowered by people and handed over to police after he threw a hand grenade near Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) last month.

A police handout issued here this evening said one person was killed in a firing incident at Dalgate. Police is investigating, it said.

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