Two Hizb militants killed, 14 arrested, tragedy averted in J

Srinagar, June 7 (UNI) Two militants of Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) were killed, 14 others were arrested and a major tragedy was averted while ultras kidnapped three villagers in Jammu and Kashmir overnight.

An official spokesman said a joint operation was launched by the 55 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police at Tumalhalan village in Pulwama district last night, following a tip-off that militants were hiding there.

When the SOG and RR personnel were about to storm a particular house the militants opened fire. The fire was returned after the residents of the nearby houses were evacuaed.

The intermittent exchange of fire between security forces and militants holed up in the house continued for several hours in which two HM militants were killed. One house was also damaged in the encounter.

Two AK rifles and other arms and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants, identified as Zahoor and Gul Mohammad.

He said militants kidnapped three villagers Ghulam Mohiuddin, Bashir Ahmad and Abdul Rashid from their houses at Reasi on June 4.

However, Abdul Rashid managed to escape and reached home safely. The whereabouts of two others were still not known.

Security forces averted a major tragedy when they detected two live hand grenade at Beera in Mendhar. Later, the grenades were defused by Bomb Disposal Squad without any damage.

In a major breakthrough, Jammu and Kashmir police busted a 14-member Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) module allegedly responsible for detonating Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) through mobile phones and killing dozens of people, including a senior Congress leader, in north Kashmir.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of police for north Kashmir Dr Srinivasan told reporters here today that after working for several weeks, the police arrested 14 HM militants from different parts of Baramulla and Sopore.

MORE UNI