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Leopard mows down two HM commanders before troopers could catch them
Early Times: Leading Newspaper Jammu Kashmir, Latest News about Jammu & Kashmir
11/3/2009 12:00:57 AM
Early Times Report
Jammu, Nov 2: In a bizarre incident, first reported case of its kind in 20 years of insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, the job of a joint hunt team of Police and Army looking for two top militant commanders in South Kashmir forests was made easy as their targets were already eliminated by someone else before they could lay their hands on. The Army and Police have registered success in killing two commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen but the credit goes to an unexpected third party the leopard.
Top Hizbul Mujahideen militants identified as Mohammad Amin alias Kaiser and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah have been active since 2003 and 2002 respectively. Both belonged to Reasi district of Jammu Division and of late known more among the militant ranks and security forces for forcibly recruiting and then training young boys as guerillas. Bashir had lately becomes the Divisional Commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen for Pir Panchal region.
Following a tip off, a joint party of Police and Armys 9 Rashtriya Rifles launched a hunt in Dumhal Hanjipora area of Kulgam district in South Kashmir. The security team had learnt that Kaiser and Saifukllah were hiding in the area for quite sometime and were getting in touch with local youths for recruitment, said Army spokesman Lt Col JS Brar.
As the security team progressed, it came across mutilated bodies of both militant commanders in Dandalu Nallah in Damhal Hanjipiora. In examination it turned out that both had been mowed down by the leopards, already a sign of terror in forest areas of Kashmir and many upper reaches of Jammu region.
Incidentally, Kaiser and Saifullah became the 39th and 40th victims, respectively, of the leopard attacks in past two years. The man-animal conflict has claimed more than three dozen lives and inflict injuries to more than 350 in the Jammu and Kashmir during the past two years. About a dozen wild animals were also killed by the agitated villagers in retaliation during the same period in the state.