Srinagar, May 9 (UNI) No resident of Srinagar is now in the militant ranks, a senior police officer said on Thursday after the final one was neutralised in a 50-hour long operation just days ahead of the crucial general elections here.
The development comes at a time when the Srinagar Lok Sabha seat, which is spread over five districts, is all set to go to polls on May 13.
The last surviving militant from the summer capital, Momin Gulzar Mir, a resident of Firdous Colony, Eidgah, was killed in an encounter with security forces on Wednesday at Redwani in Kulgam district of south Kashmir, in which two other militants, including the operational chief of “The Resistance Front” (TRF), Basit Dar, were also killed a day earlier.
The 50-hour-long operation in Kulgam ended on Wednesday evening.
“With the killing of Momin, Srinagar district now has no resident terrorists,” the senior police officer said.
He said Momin, who got killed in the Kulgam encounter, “was the last one”.
“After the bodies of the two, including Basit, were recovered from the encounter site on Tuesday, the joint forces continued the combing operation as there was confirmed input about the presence of three militants in the area.
“Yesterday afternoon, as we were conducting searches around the area where the encounter took place, the hiding terrorist opened fire on the forces, triggering a fresh encounter. After a gun battle, Momin was killed,” a police officer said.
The killing of Basit, a resident of Kulgam and Momin, is a huge success for the security forces.
“The two were mostly behind several terror incidents in Srinagar. They were also accused of the killing of a police inspector in the old city last October. Both were active in Srinagar and south Kashmir districts,” the officer added.
