In one of the heaviest gun-battles between the militants and the government forces, eight security forces personnel including four CRPF men, four policemen were killed today in Pulwama, Jammu & Kashmir.
Three militants were also killed during the encounter at the District Police Lines (DPL) around 50 km south of Srinagar.
“Eight security forces jawans were killed in the encounter”, Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range) Munir Ahmad Khan told Outlook. He said that the three fidayeen militants have been also killed.
“The encounter is technically over but the combing operation continues”, the IGP said.
“We lost four of our CRPF jawans, Jammu and Kashmir Police lost one constable, and three Special Police Officers (SPOs)”, Inspector General of Police CRPF Ravdeep Shai told Outlook.
The sources said the clearing operation is still going on.
Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack. A caller who identified himself as the JeM spokesman Hassan Shah telephoned Srinagar-based news agency CNS and claimed “our valiant militants stormed into CRPF camp stationed at DPL Pulwama and inflicted casualties upon the armed forces.”
“The armed forces have suffered massive damage while militants present there are giving a tough time to the Indian troops,” he claimed.
Scores of Jammu and Kashmir and CRPF officers and jawans were stationed at the DPL Pulwama when the militants forced their entry into it at 4.30 a.m. The police sources suspect the hand of freshly infiltrated fidayeen militants behind the attack.
They say the fidayeen militants might have infiltrated few days ago from the Poonch sector and traveled to this far to carry the attack. “The militants might have carried proper reconnaissance before carrying the attack in the highly fortified building housing hundreds of policemen and CRPF personnel”, the sources said.
“The militants might have carried proper reconnaissance before carrying the attack in the highly fortified building housing hundreds of policemen and CRPF personnel”, the sources said.
The attack has come days after Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said that militants in the Kashmir Valley were “now under great pressure” because of the financial crunch caused by demonetisation and the action taken by National Investigation Agency (NIA) on illegal foreign fundings. He said that it has checked illegal activities in the valley on a large scale.
A police official said after entering into the DPL, possibly from the backside, the militants resorted to indiscriminate firing and threw hand grenades injuring many CRPF and the policemen. A Srinagar based police spokesman told Outlook the militants took position in three buildings and started firing.
As the encounter started, the reinforcements from the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG), the Army and the CRPF rushed to the spot. The police first evacuated security personnel, other administrative staff and their families trapped inside the building. The police have also denied that the militants took anyone hostage.
“All the families have been evacuated. There is no hostage situation in the ongoing encounter at the DPL (Pulwama),” a brief statement issued to the media by the Jammu and Kashmir police, on Saturday afternoon said.
The sources said the militants also fired from rocket launchers during the gunfight but the police have not confirmed it.
As the encounter was underway, stone-pelters clashed with security forces in the Pulwama town.
