Newly recruited TuM militant killed in Pulwama village, thousands attend funeral prayers

Srinagar: A newly-recruited militant was late Wednesday night killed in a brief exchange of fire with the government forces in Dougam village of Kakpora area in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. The slain militant was laid to rest in his ancestral village on Thursday and thousands of people attended his funeral prayers in two successive rounds.
A police official said that army men of 50 RR and SOG personnel had set up a Nakka at Dougam Kakapora and a few militants moving through the area were intercepted by the forces around 11:50 pm. The militants opened fire on the forces, and in the retaliatory action one of the militants got killed, said the official.
He identified the slain militant as Showkat Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Padgamora, Awantipora. Bhat had joined militancy on October 2 and was associated with Tehreek-ul-Mujahideen, he said.
The slain militant was laid to rest amid pro-freedom and pro-Burhan Wani slogans in his ancestral village Thursday afternoon. Witnesses said that two rounds of funeral prayers were held for Bhat at his native Dangerpora village in which over a thousand people participated.