Srinagar: Two militants holed up in a school on the outskirts of Srinagar were killed on Sunday afternoon after a 14-hour encounter with security forces. Two army men were also injured in the shootout.
The militants had killed a CRPF jawan and injured a constable late on Saturday, following which a gun battle broke out. The militants were holed up inside Delhi Public School in Srinagar's Pantha Chowk.
The security forces had launched an offensive to flush out the militants who took refuge inside the school after attacking CRPF personnel in a high-security zone, located less than a kilometre from headquarters of Army's Chinar Corps, PTI reported.
The school premises which has seven buildings, comprising 36 rooms, was cordoned off and the staff and others were evacuated last night itself. An offensive to flush out the militants was launched on Sunday morning, a police official said. “The exchange of fire between security forces and militants began at around 3.40 am,” he said.
“The gun battle is over and two militants have been killed,” the official said after the 14-hour armed engagement.
He said the search and sanitization operation was, however, underway at the encounter site. Two Army personnel were injured in the gun battle this morning, the official said. He said the injured have been taken to a hospital.
Earlier, Jammu and Kashmir's Director General of Police S P Vaid had said that there were reports of the presence of two militants inside the building but the exact number would be known after the search of the complex was over.
On the operation getting prolonged, he told reporters, "There are 36 rooms, the building is huge. So, it has to be searched floor by floor, room by room."
He said the security forces wanted to ensure that the (school) building was safe.
"The enemy has a nefarious design that the school buildings are destroyed and children have nothing to study and ultimately abandon their studies, which we will ensure that no such thing happens," the state police chief said.
He was speaking to the media on the sidelines of wreath laying ceremony of CRPF officer killed in Saturday’s attack.
The authorities had imposed restrictions under section 144 CrPc from Ram Munshibagh to Sempora stretch of the national highway as a precautionary measure to avoid protests near the encounter site.
The mobile internet services have been affected across the valley as the network speeds have been reduced.
Comments
0 comment