The toll in the encounter in South Kashmir’s Shopian district rose to six on Monday after authorities recovered the bodies of a second suspected militant and another individual. Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police SP Vaid said they had also recovered two weapons from the suspected militants, ANI reported.
Authorities earlier believed that one suspected militant and three youths were killed in retaliatory firing in Shopian’s Panhoo region, The Hindu reported.
The gunfight took place around 8 pm on Sunday. The suspected militants, in a car, had opened fired on an Army check post after officers had signalled for them to stop, an unidentified officer told PTI.
An Army spokesperson claimed the men in the car were overground militant workers, but residents claimed they were civilians, according to Greater Kashmir.
Restrictions imposed in parts of Kashmir
On Monday, authorities imposed restrictions in parts of Srinagar, Pulwama and Shopian. They suspended internet services after sporadic protests broke out in South Kashmir. Rail services have also been affected, and markets have called for a shutdown in Srinagar, NDTV reported.
Education institutes, too, remained closed in the Valley, and the Kashmir Administrative Services exams were postponed.
The attack on the patrol party follows an attack in Tral, where a suspected Hizbul Mujahiden militant lobbed a grenade at a police station on February 26. Also, two policemen were killed in two separate attacks in Budgam district last month.
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