2 militants, house owner’s son, cop killed in Fateh Kadal gunfight

Srinagar : Two militants and a suspect whose role police is investigating and a policeman are among the four people killed in a gunfight on Wednesday morning in Fateh Kadal area of old Srinagar city.
Reports said contingents of police and CRPF Wednesday morning cordoned off Fateh Kadal area and launched search operations near a house from where the militants fired on them triggering an encounter in the area. Two militants and a suspect whose association with the militants is being investigated by the police and a policeman were killed in the gunfight. The two slain militants have been identified as Mehraj Bungroo a top LeT commander and Fahad Waza a militant of LeT and the third one identified as Rayees Ahmad a son of the house owner is dubbed by a militant by the DGP Dilbagh Singh but Mirwiaz Molvi Umar Farooq the Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman and the locals claim that Rayees was a civilian.
Meanwhile a police spokesman after the gunfight said “the role of Rayees Ahmad who was killed along with two militants in a gunfight in Fateh Kadal area of Srinagar on Wednesday is being investigated. The complicity of Rayees Ahmad who was part of the group in providing shelter and logistics to the militants is being investigated.”
“During the encounter, all the two militants and their active accomplice refused to come out of the house and in turn fired upon the search party. Consequently, they were killed in the encounter. The eliminated militants and the active accomplice have been identified as Mehraj-ud-Din Bangroo, Faid Mushtaq Waza and Rayees Ahmad,” he said.
Mehraj-ud-Din Bangroo @Asif @Piya son of Sona-ul-Lah Bangroo resident of Narparistan Fateh Kadal had a long history of criminal records pertaining to militancy-related activities. “He was involved in case FIR No. 146/2002 U/S 7/25 I. A. Act P/S M.R. Gunj, FIR No. 32/2007 U/S 307 RPC 7/27 I.A. Act P/S M.R. Gunj, FIR No 27/2016 U/S 302 RPC, 7/27 IA Act of PS Zadibal related to killing of two police personnel at Bagh-e-Ali Mardan Khan near Zadibal, FIR No 69/2016 U/S 302, 392 RPC 7/27 IA Act. of PS Batamaloo pertaining to killing of one police personnel and snatching of his weapon at Tengpora Batamaloo.”
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of the wreath lying ceremony of the policeman killed in the gunfight Director General Police Dilbagh Singh termed the killing of Mehraj Bungroo a top Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) commander a big relief for police as well as the people of Srinagar city and claimed that the slain LeT commander was involved in many attacks on government forces and weapon snatching incidents.
DGP Dilbagh Singh said “three militants have been killed and two of them have been identified as Mehraj Bungroo a top LeT commander and Fahad Waza another militant also owing allegiance to LeT. The identity of the third militant is yet to be ascertained.”
Claiming the recovery of huge cache of arms and ammunition from the procession of slain militants, DGP said “the gunfight broke out early in the morning when contingents of police and CRPF jointly cordoned off Fateh Kadal area on specific inputs about the presence of militants at a specific place. Three militants two of whom were identified were killed in the gunfight and their bodies were recovered. One policeman identified as Kamal Kishore of Reasi Jammu was also killed in the gunfight.”
Saying that the militants often use to come to Srinagar to show their presence, the DGP thanked people for their cooperation and said sometimes people clash with forces whenever any militant is killed in violent situations. When asked about the involvement of the slain militants in the killing of two National Conference workers, the DGP said “we are at it, investigation is on but can’t say anything right now about their involvement in the killing of two civilians in the same area.”