The Hindu : Baramulla encounter ends, 3 killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 06, 2002

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Baramulla encounter ends, 3 killed

SRINAGAR, MARCH 5. A militant and a policeman were among three persons killed and five security personnel were injured as the 26-hour encounter between militants and security forces ended with the gutting of three houses where the militants had taken shelter in Baramulla district town of north Kashmir today, official sources said.

The encounter, which broke out at Sherwani colony in Khawajabagh locality of Baramulla district town on Monday, ended around 4 p.m. today. However, the area was cordoned off as troops searched the debris of the gutted structures.

The body of an unidentified militant alongwith an AK assault rifle was recovered from the debris. A jawan of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir police and a student were killed and five securitymen, including two officers and a civilian, were also injured in the prolonged gunfight.

The two were killed when the militants opened fire and lobbed grenades on a joint search party of the SOG and the Army in the village when the troops raided a house following information that some militants were present in the area.

Security forces retaliated and in the shootout, three houses were gutted as the ultras changed their positions from one house to the other.

Four soldiers, including a major, were injured in the clash with the militants, the sources said, adding that the Army used rocket launchers in their counter-attack.

The Inspector-General of Police, Kashmir, K. Rajindran, and senior Army officers visited the site and supervised the operation.

- PTI

4 killed in Jammu

Our Jammu Correspondent reports:

Four civilians were shot dead by militants at Magota village in Thanamandi today.

Police sources said a group of militants barged into the house of Mohammed Azmal and shot him and his wife Gulam Fatima while they were asleep, killing them on the spot. They entered another house and shot dead the two occupants. The militants then managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

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