One of the three militants who were killed in an encounter in Kashmir’s Budgam district on Wednesday had played a key role in the lynching of police officer Mohammad Ayub Pandit in June, the police have said, according to PTI. The militant, who was identified as Sajid Ahmad Gilkar, had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen after the lynching incident in Nowhatta.
“He [Gilkar] was also involved in grenade attacks on the CRPF at Nowhatta on April 22, Khanyar police party on April 30 and SafaKadal CRPF camp on June 21,” spokesperson for Jammu and Kashmir police said on Wednesday.
A gunbattle had ensued between the security forces and the militants in Radbugh village in Budgam on Tuesday night. The militants were trapped inside a house overnight and were subsequently killed in the encounter.
The police have also said that Gilkar was involved in attacks on Abdul Qayoom, a People’s Democratic Party leader, in Barzulla on May 24, PTI reported. They had also participated in anti-national and unlawful activities, had damaged government property and were involved in stone pelting incidents, the spokesperson said.
On June 22, Pandith, a deputy superintendent of police, was stripped and stoned to death by a mob outside the Jama Masjid in Nowhatta. A special investigation team was formed to investigate his death. Gilkar was arrested by the police in connection with the case, however, he was released later. It is believed that after his release, he had joined the Hizbul Mujahideen.
His brother Murtaza Nazir told the Greater Kashmir that Gilkar had called his father up on Tuesday evening saying he was caught in cordon at Budgam and that he would be killed soon. “All of us were shocked to know that he had become a militant,” Nazir said.
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