Army man, Hizb militant killed in Pulwama gunfight

Pulwama: A militant and an army man were killed in Ratnipora encounter in South Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
A police spokesperson said based on a “credible input” about the presence of militants in Ratnipora area of Pulwama, a cordon and search operation was launched in the intervening night jointly by Police and forces in the area.
He said as the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the militants.
“The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight,” the spokesperson said.
“During the initial exchange of gunfight, three army mens suffered injuries and were immediately evacuated to army’s 92 base hospital, Badamibagh Srinagar where one of them succumbed,” the officer said.
He identified the slain army man as Sepoy Baljeet Singh.
The official said a militant Hilal Ahmad Rather, son of Ghulam Mohammad Rather, a resident of Behgambagh Kakapora district Pulwama was also killed in the encounter.
The spokesman said that as per police records, he was affiliated with Hizb-ul-Mujahideen outfit, and had a long history of “criminal” records and was wanted by law for his complicity in a series of crimes including an attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities.
Several cases were registered against him for his involvement in militant activities and prominent among them are FIR No. 312/2016 at PS Pulwama U/S 147, 148, 307, 337, 332, 427 RPC, FIR No. 371/2016 at PS Pulwama U/S 147, 148, 307, 337, 332, 427 RPC, FIR No. 296/2016 at PS Pulwama U/S 147, 148, 307, 337, 332, 427 RPC and FIR No. 8/2018 at PS Karan Nagar U/S 302, 120-B RPC, 7/27 arms Act which pertains to the militant attack inside the premises of SMHS Hospital in which two cops were killed and a Pakistani militant Naveed Jatt @Hanzalla had managed to escape.
Incriminating material such as arms and ammunition was recovered from the site of encounter. All these materials have been taken in the case records for the purpose of investigation.
The body of the slain militant was handed over to his family after completion of medico-legal formalities.
Meanwhile, IGP Kashmir SP Pani said that the slain militant was a close aide of LeT Commander Naveed Jatt and he had helped him to escape from the Central Jail Srinagar.
Braving the biting cold, thousands of mourners attended the last rites of Hizb ul Mujahideen militant killed in a gunfight with the government forces in Ratnipora village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Tuesday.
As the body of Hilal Ahmad Rather reached his native village of Begumbagh, some four kilometers from the site of the gunbattle, thousands of mourners converged there to participate in his last rites.
Four back to back rounds of funeral prayers were held for the slain militant Hilal Ahmed Rather.