After killing of LeT man, no resident of Srinagar is in terrorist ranks: IGP

Srinagar: A day after Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) commander Ishfaq Rashid Khan along with another terrorist was killed by security forces in an encounter in Ranbirgarh-Panzinara area of Srinagar, Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar on Sunday said that no resident of Srinagar is now among terrorist ranks.

“After killing of LeT terrorist Ishfaq Rashid Khan yesterday, no resident of Srinagar district in terrorist ranks now,” Kashmir police’s twitter handle quoted IGP Kumar.

However, the statement contradicts with the fact shared by Kumar on June 23 when he said that Hilal Ahmad, a PhD scholar of Bemina Srinagar who had gone missing during a hiking trip to Ganderbal on June 14, has joined Hizbul Mujahideen outfit. He is still unaccounted for.

So far, 10 militants have been killed in Srinagar in various encounters - a few of them belonging from the district.

The two militants killed on Saturday were trapped after a joint cordon and search operation was launched by JKP, 29 RR and CRPF in the said area.

A police spokesman said that during the operation they were given an opportunity to surrender. “However they fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party, which was retaliated leading to an encounter. In the ensuing encounter, the two were killed,” he said.

The bodies of the terrorists were sent to Ganderbal for their last rites.

Earlier on July 3, after an encounter on the outskirts of Srinagar, Kumar had said that Srinagar city would never be terrorism-free as terrorists from other districts of the Valley keep on coming here. “Srinagar is a city where terrorists come often. Sometimes, they come for medical treatment, collecting funds or even for meetings. Srinagar can never be free of terrorism.”

“Terrorists will keep on coming here. And when we get information about them, we will keep on carrying out encounters,” he said.