SRINAGAR: The encounter in Kargi, ragging since 2 am in the night, has left another civilian injured, reports from the spot said.
Identified as Imran Hussain son of Tasaduq Hussain, the resident of Basgaran was hit by a bullet in his leg. This village is on the other side the nulla around which the gun battle is on. Imran was hit while he was around his home.
Earlier in the day, three civilians were injured but all of them had received splinter injuries. Besides, a soldier was also had a minor injury.
Women who were evacuated out of the area told waiting reporters that the firing started around 2 am and remained ragging for most of the night. Kalgi is a major village but the encounter is taking place in a small part of the hamlet that has only 15 families living. The encounter is actually in a nulla where lot of shrubs, trees and different kind of plantations are around. It, however, is not a forest.
The evacuated women said they had not been able to cook their meals because of the gun battle. They had got their kids along with as most of the men stayed back. A police officer said they have killed a militant as two are still around. The gun battle is outside the local garrison, an artillery unit.
Police sources said the militants had taken refuge in a house that went up in smoke. Now they have entered into another house which has also caught fire during the gun battle. From the distance, one can see thick clouds of snmoke billowing up into the sky.
State Police chief DR S P Vaid told reporters that the militants wanted to create a spectacle like September 2016 when they killed 19 soldiers. “We have averted a major tragedy,” Vaid told reporters at Bakhshi Stadium. “They were planning an attack on army base which they failed in.”
