Terrorist presumed dead opens fire on security personnel in Tral

A dramatic scene unfolded on Sunday when a terrorist presumed to be dead rose from the debris and opened fire on the security forces at the Hyuna-Appu village of Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

Security personnel exchanged heavy fire with the terrorists after blasts were heard on Saturday. The area was quickly cordoned off by the security personnel and the house used by the terrorists as a bunker was also demolished.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when security forces were busy clearing the rubble to retrieve the bodies of the two terrorists, who they presumed were killed in a gunbattle that started on Saturday evening and lasted for more than 15 hours. The terrorists were holed up inside a residential building in Tral.

Sources say that the police suspect presence of an underground hideout where the militant was hiding during the gunbattle.

The gunbattle broke out after the security forces received a tip-off about presence of some terrorists in the Hyuna-Appu village. A policeman was killed and three others including an army major were injured in the gunfight that lasted for more than 15 hours.

"We had a specific input about the presence of terrorists in Tral area. The fierce encounter started last evening. Two terrorists have been killed. One of them is a commander and another is a Pakistani. Unfortunately, we have lost one policeman in the encounter. It was a joint operation by the J&K police and security forces", said DR SP Vaid, Director General of Police, Jammu and Kashmir.

Constable Manzoor Ahmad Naik, the policeman who was killed, was part of an assault team that launched the operation. A resident of Salamabad in Uri, Naik is survived by his father, sister, brother, wife and a four-year-old son. Naik was laid to rest in his native place in Salamabad on Sunday afternoon.

SP Pani, Deputy Inspector General of Police, south Kashmir range, said they have recovered the body of a terrorist identified as Aqib Molvi.

Molvi reportedly was a close aide of Burhan Wani, the poster boy of Hizbul Mujhadeen who was killed in an encounter in Anantnag district on July 8 last year.

According to the police, protesters clashed with the security forces and pelted stones despite the prohibitory orders in place.