Tral encounter: One cop martyred, 2 militants killed
NEW DELHI: A specially trained policeman was martyred and six security personnel, including an army major, were injured in an encounter with militants in
Tral area of south
Kashmir's
Pulwama district on Sunday.
"Following specific information, about a group of militants hiding in the Hafoo Nazneepora area of Tral town in south Kashmir, security forces launched an operation," a senior police officer said.
"As the security forces, including troops of 42 Rashtriya Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Special Operations Group (SOG), closed in on the hiding militants, the insurgents opened indiscriminate fire martyring a police constable," he said.
The policeman was identified as Manzoor Ahmad Naik.
According to police, Major Rishi and another policeman Gulzar Ahmad have received head injury while a stray bullet injured one CRPF personal Ram Singh during the ongoing encounter.
All the injured have been shifted to city hospital for treatment, police said.
Two militants (HM's Aqib Moulvi and Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Muhammad's Osama) were gunned down in the encounter that lasted over 15 hours, the police officer said, adding that one among them is Pakistan national.
Aqib was close aide of
Burhan Wani, the Hizbul Mujahideen militant whose death sparked violent protests in Kashmir last year.
On Saturday, the fierce gunfight started at around 6:30 pm when the security forces received an intelligence input that some militants were hiding in a house in Tral. Protesters also clashed with the security personnel to disrupt the joint operation.