Srinagar, February 6
Twenty-two militants and six security personnel were among 30 persons killed, while armed men robbed over Rs six lakh from a bank in Jammu and Kashmir during the past 24 hours.
Sources said the Special Operation Group, in a joint operation with the Central Reserve Police Force, killed Mohammad Rafiq Ladderi, the self-styled operational chief of Al-Omar Mujahideen at Nowhatta in the downtown city late last night.
One AK rifle, one pistol and other arms and ammunition were seized from the slain militant.
However, residents
alleged that Rafiq was arrested and later killed in a fake encounter. They further said he was not active for the past one year.
The police said Rafiq, involved in several killings, was a listed militant. He was wanted for the past five years.
Rafiq, according to the police, was also responsible for the killing of Mohammad Amin Bhat, DIG (Crime and Railways) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, who was shot dead outside a mosque in Srinagar on Monday morning after offering Id prayers. After coming to adverse notice, the Al-Omar Mujahideen had been operating under a new name “Save Kashmir Movement”, which had claimed the responsibility of DIG Bhat’s killing. However, investigations into the killing were on.
Acting on a specific information, the police cordoned off the house of Anzar Ahmed Mir at at Kolipora, Khanyar, to flush out the suspected militants. The encounter ensued when the hiding militants opened fire on the search party, leading to the killing of Rafiq, a resident of nearby Nawakadal area here.
Rafiq , had taken over as the chief after Mushtaq Latrum’s release and his shifting to Pakistan.
An encounter took place at Bandipora in north Kashmir in the morning during which six militants were killed. One soldier also lost his life.
A large cache of arms and ammunition was seized from the slain militants, sources said.
An official spokesman said an encounter took place between militants and security forces at Surankote late last night during a search operation. He said, during the night-long operation, two militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba were killed. Three Army jawans also laid down their lives.
Militants attacked a search party at Kotli Kalaban in Rajouri district last night in which one soldier was killed. Militants managed to escape under the cover of darkness. An encounter took place at Darigam in the central Kashmir district of Badgam last night. Two houses were also damaged in the incident he said, adding two unidentified charred bodies were recoverd this morning.
Militants killed one Ghulam Nabi Bhat at Danas in Badgam district while another person, Qasim Ali, was killed at Tharoo.
A militant was killed and four security jawans were wounded in a fierce encounter at Nar Goph in Poonch district early this morning.
Security forces gunned down a militant Zain-ul-Abidin in an encounter at Bandipora last night.
Meanwhile, a senior Army officer said, troops killed nine militants
including a commander each of the Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Lashkar-e-Toiba. They were identified as Saifullah and Abu Tala. He said one Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of 8 Assam Subedar Moshat Lamkang, winner of the Sena Medal, also made the supreme sacrifice after killing three militants.
A cache of arms and ammunition, communication devices and Pakistan currency was seized from the slain militants.
Meanwhile, the Al-Omar Mujahideen today named Khalid Javed as the new ‘chief operational commander’ of the outfit after the incumbent, Rafiq, was killed by security forces in an encounter.
Khalid Javed will be the new chief operational commander of the outfit with immediate effect, a caller identifying himself as Al-Omar chief Mustaq Ahmad Zargar, alias Latram, told a news agency over phone.
Zargar, along with Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, was released in December, 1999, at Kandhar, Afghanistan in exchange for passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines plane.
