SRINAGAR, March 23: Police on Friday claimed that slain militants had gone to Mir Mohalla of Hajin area to meet a girl.
Two militants and a minor boy were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s Hajin area of Bandipora district on Friday.
Addressing a joint press conference of army, police, and CRPF, SSP Bandipora, Rahul Malik claimed that one of the slain militants Ali wanted to marry some girl there.
“The family members of the girl had sent the girl to some other place. Ali wanted that girl should be brought back and then only he allow the hostages to go out. Initially this thing was going on inside the house. By the time we received the input, the cordon and encounter had already started,” he said.
“After that we came to know that two more civilians were trapped inside who were taken hostage by the two militants. Among the measures we took was we tried to make announcements through microphones, we also used local Auqaf committees, and family for releasing of hostages,” the SSP said.
He said forced tried to adopt various methods to rescue the boy.
The police said both were foreign militants and affiliated with LeT and hard core militants.
“Ali has been involved in many civilian killings, and he has a trademark of keeping a long knife which we have also recovered. Foreign militants don’t operate from one area. They keep on moving from one district to another. From last five to six months, their presence has increased in this area. They keep on changing their name, identity and area of operation,” he said
