M A I N   N E W S

Six more involved in carnage shot dead

SRINAGAR, March 29 (PTI, UNI) — Six more militants reportedly involved in the Chatti Singhpora massacre of 35 Sikhs were killed in an encounter with the security forces in south Kashmir today, a Defence Ministry spokesman said.

The militants were killed by the Army in a joint operation with the special operations group of the local police at Halan village, 12 km south-east of Chatti Singhpora, he said here.

The operation was launched following specific information regarding the movement of militants from the Kuthar valley to the Bring valley.

The troops confronted the militants around 6 a.m. which led to an encounter leaving the six militants dead.

“The militants were part of the same gang that had masterminded the gory massacre of innocents at Chatti Singhpora,” the spokesman said.

He said with the killing of the six militants, 11 militants responsible for the March 20 carnage had been eliminated within four days.

Earlier, five top foreign mercenaries suspected to be involved in the massacre were shot dead by the Army in an encounter at Panchaltran on March 25.

In another encounter in south Kashmir, a local militant and a security personnel were killed and two jawans were wounded in the Pahalgam area of Anantnag district today.

The encounter took place when the security forces raided a militant hideout and asked the ultras to surrender, official sources said.

The militants opened fire on the search parties resulting in the killing of a jawan and injuries to two others.

The forces returned the fire which damaged the house in which the militants had taken shelter.

The body of a militant identified at Ghulam Qadir Banday was found from the debris of the house along with an AK assault rifle and some ammunition, the sources said.

Panic gripped in the Hari Singh High Street near here in the afternoon when militants hurled a hand grenade towards a security force picket. The grenade missed the target and exploded on the roadside, causing injuries to two pedestrians.

The BSF subsequently cordoned off the entire market area and paraded all shopkeepers and pedestrians before security force cats. As many as six youths were taken in custody.

JAMMU (FOC): Two persons were injured when Pakistani troops resorted to heavy firing and shelling in the Swajian sector in Poonch district of Jammu division since last evening, reports said on Wednesday.