Security forces have gunned down a militant in an overnight exchange of fire in Ganderbal district, the incident prompting ministers in the Omar Abdullah-led government to question the withdrawal of their security escorts at a time militancy persists in Jammu and Kashmir.
The administration led by lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha is facing heat from
Valley-based MLAs for allegedly withdrawing their security escorts.
There was an uproar in the Assembly on Tuesday over the security rollback at National Conference headquarters in Srinagar, with chief minister Omar Abdullah terming the move “incomprehensible” as it came less than a month
after an assassination attempt on party president Farooq
Abdullah.
The army on Wednesday said they had killed a militant in an operation that started on Tuesday evening at Arahama in Ganderbal.
“During the search, vigilant troops observed suspicious activity. On being challenged, terrorists opened
fire and their own troops
retaliated,” Srinagar-based Chinar Corps posted on X
on Wednesday.
The army said the identity of the militant was being ascertained.
A spokesman said the cordon was tactically reorganised amid intermittent firing during which “the troops effectively retaliated with calibrated response, resulting in elimination of one terrorist”.
Officials said the anti-terror operation was in progress.
Deputy chief minister Surinder Choudhary asked whether the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was truly normal as was being touted.
“The LG is removing the security of a few MLAs. We should also ask the DGP (director-general of police) why the Ganderbal encounter is underway if the situation is normal in Jammu and Kashmir?” Choudhary told reporters in Jammu.
Recalling the attack on Farooq, he said: “You are giving security to only select MLAs on a pick-and-choose basis. This is a joke of democracy. I hope the LG will intervene and do justice in this matter.”
National Conference MLA and party’s chief spokesman Tanvir Sadiq said the Ganderbal encounter proved
that claims of normalcy were untrue.
“On one hand, we say that the situation is normal now. But on the other hand, such incidents show that terror incidents are still happening here,” he said.
In September, two soldiers and two militants were killed in a gunbattle in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.