Slain militant given '21-gun salute'; protests, clashes erupt in J&K

Srinagar: One of the two Hizb-ul-Mujahideen militants killed in a fierce gun battle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern district of Shopian early on Thursday was given a 21-gun salute as his corpse arrived in his native village in neighbouring Pulwama district.

The slain militant Naseer Ahmed Pandit had joined militant ranks after deserting police force last year. He was posted on security duty at the residence of PDP MLA and then worked with then works minister and PDP leader Syed Altaf Bukhari at the time of quitting the force. His accomplice killed in the gun battle has been identified as Waseem Malla alias Inam-ul-Haq. Both were wanted militants of the Hizb, police said.

Read: Jammu and Kashmir: Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed in encounter

Witnesses said that amid chanting of pro-freedom slogans, a group of unnamed Hizb militants arrived at Karimabad, Pandit’s home village, and when his body was placed on a makeshift pedestal they fired their guns in the air to give him what they said was a 21-gun salute. Hundreds of mourners had also relocated to the village to pay their respects to the slain militant and the sound of gunfire and a sudden wall collapse nearby caused a momentary commotion in the area, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, massive protests erupted in various parts of the twin districts with people taking to the streets to mourn the killing of militants. Clashes between stone-throwing mobs and police have been reported from Newa, a village close to Karimabad and the neighbourhood areas.  Irate youth torched a ‘Mobile Bunker’ vehicle of J&K police at Karimabad after hijacking it from neighbouring Pulwama town, police officials said. They added that no one was in the vehicle when set ablaze.

The militant due belonging to the Hizb’s ‘Burhan group’ was killed in a brief but fierce encounter in Vihil village of Shopian earlier on Thursday. Another Hizb militant Bilal Ahmaed Butt, also from Karimabad village, was earlier killed in a gun battle with security forces in Gudroo village of south Kashmir on Tuesday night.

Officials said that Thursday encounter took place in Vihil village after the troops of Army’s 62 Rashtriya Rifles and J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) launched a search operation in the area. They also said that the duo had tried to escape from a private house they were using as a hideout on seeing the security forces zeroing in on it by opening indiscriminate fire. The fire was quickly returned and both the militants were killed in a paddy field outside the village. Two AK rifles with some ammunition were found on the slain militants, they added. Waseem Malla was a resident of Shopian’s Pehlipora village, reports said.