Civilian Among 4 Killed In Srinagar Encounter

One civilian, two militants and a policeman were killed in an encounter which broke out in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

On early Wednesday morning, a gunfight started in Fateh Kadal in downtown an area of Srinagar district between militants and government forces.

Reports said that a joint team of Special Officers Group of police and CRPF were acting on a specific tip-off on the presence of the militants in Karfali Mohallah Fateh Kadal. Forces cordoned off the area.

Soon after, the force reached near the suspected houses where the militants were trapped. The militants fired upon government forces triggering an encounter, reports said.

Following the encounter in Srinagar, the authorities closed all the educational institutions across the district. Mobile internet service was snapped and internet speed of broadband service was reduced to 2g.

In the three-hour-long gunfight, two militants, a policeman and a civilian were killed. As per reports, the slain civilian was identified as Rayees Habibullah, who is the son of the owner of the house where militants were trapped. The slain policeman has been identified as Komal from Reasi, an area of Jammu region, the winter capital of J&K. 

Police officials identified the militants as Mehraj U Din Bangroo of Fateh Kadal and Faid Mushtaq Waza, resident of Khanyar. Both were affiliated to the Lashkar e Toiba (LeT), the officials said.

As per the reports, heavy clashes broke out between government forces and protesters in Fateh Kadal and Khanyar area of downtown.

Meanwhile, the Joint Resistance Leadership has called for another shutdown on Thursday in protest against the killing of Kadal and the attack on journalists.

Journalists Allegedly Thrashed

Many TV and photojournalists were allegedly thrashed by the government forces near the encounter site while covering the gunfight on the ground.

One of the photojournalists (who wished anonymity) told NewsClick that as soon they reached near the encounter site,  all the journalists gathered in one corner to insulate themselves from stray bullets. A group of SOG rushed to them and beat them indiscriminately, leading to many journalists being injured. They even fired shots to scare them away,.

The vice president of Kashmir Photographers Association, while speaking to Kashmir Life, a local news portal said: “I was beaten by four policemen and the only thing I could only do was save my camera. Many of us have sustained injuries.”

The Kashmir Press Club (KPC) has condemned the thrashing of the journalists.  

“Many reporters and photojournalists were beaten up while they were delivering their professional duties this morning. One of the injured journalists is also a member of the executive team of KPC,” said a spokesman of the KPC, in a statement.

In a statement, he further said that thrashing took place right in front of senior police officers. The KPC has expressed shock over this behaviour by the forces. It hopes that the state administration will take a note of this and act.

This is not  the first-time journalists are facing problems in the field while performing professional duties. On September 4 2016, Zuhaib Maqbool a freelance photojournalist had lost sight in his left eye due to pellets while covering the post-Burhan clashes in Naidyar Rainawari downtown an area of Srinagar.