Srinagar, May 6 : Five militants including a Kashmir University teacher who went missing last week, were killed on Sunday in a gunfight with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, police said.

Director General of Police (DGP) S.P. Vaid said all five holed-up militants in Badigam village have been killed.

The slain militants have been identified as Saddam Paddar -- a top Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Tawseef Sheikh, Molvi Bilal, Adil Ahmad and Muhammad Rafi Bhat -- the missing Kashmir University assistant professor, who according to police had joined militant ranks.

Paddar was a close associate of Burhan Wani, who was killed in July 2016 in a gunfight in Kokernag area in Anantnag district.
Bhat was trapped along with militants in the gunfight.

Bhat, an assistant professor in the sociology department of Kashmir University, was reported missing on Friday. He belonged to Chunduna village in Ganderbal district.

Earlier, the police took his mother, wife and brother to Badigam village to persuade Bhat to surrender.There were angry protests in the university campus on Saturday as students asked the authorities to locate Bhat.
Para commandos of the army were also deployed to help fight the holed up militants during Sunday's gunfight.

The security forces including Rashtriya Rifles (RR), Special Operations Group (SOG) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) had surrounded Badigam following a tip-off about the presence of militants.

An army soldier and a policeman were also injured in the gunfight.Besides, 12 civilians sustained injuries in the clashes between protesters and security forces near the gunfight site.One civilian with critical injuries has been shifted to Srinagar for treatment.

Authorities have suspended mobile internet services across south Kashmir.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bareilly (UP), Nov 24: Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge here on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.

The accident occurred around 10 am on the Khalpur-Dataganj road when the victims were travelling from Bareilly to Dataganj in the Badaun district, they said.

"Earlier this year, floods had caused the front portion of the bridge to collapse into the river, but this change had not been updated in the system," Circle Officer Ashutosh Shivam said.

The driver was using a navigation system and did not realise that the bridge was unsafe, driving the car off the damaged section, the police said.

There were no safety barriers or warning signs on the approach to the damaged bridge, leading to the fatal accident, Shivam said.

Upon receiving information, police teams from Faridpur, Bareilly and Dataganj police station rushed to the spot. They recovered the vehicle and the bodies from the river, Shivam added.

The circle officer said that bodies had been sent for post-mortem. Further investigation into the matter is underway.