IS chief among 6 killed in J&K, terror group's presence confirmed
Srinagar, June 22: Six people, including the IS chief in the Kashmir Valley and three of his associates, were killed and over 30 injured in separate incidents of violence in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, even as security officials for the first time confirmed presence of the Islamist terror group in the state.
State Director General of Police (DGP) S.P. Vaid confirmed that four terrorists killed after a gunfight in Anantnag district were of the Islamic State (IS).
"The slain terrorists were reportedly affiliated to Islamic State Jammu and Kashmir (ISJK)," he said in a tweet.
On its website in 2017, the Islamic State had said that its Indian affiliate, Ansar Gazwatul Hind, was being headed by Zakir Musa, a Kashmiri militant commander.
With days left before the Amarnath Yatra begins, security forces laid a cordon around the Khiram village in Srigufwara area of Anantnag district following specific information about the presence of the militants.
"As the cordon was tightened, the militants, hiding in a house, fired at the security personnel, triggering the gunfight," a police officer said.
The four militants killed have been identified as ISJK chief Dawood Salfi alias Burhan from HMT area of Srinagar, Majeed Manzoor from Talangam village in Pulwama, Adil Hassan Mir and Ashraf Itoo, both from Srigufwara itself.
A member of the Jammu and Kashmir's Special Operations Group (SOG) was also killed during the operation, while three other security personnel were injured, police said.
The other fatality was one of the house owners, who also came in the line of fire. While Muhammad Yusuf was killed, his wife Hafeeza sustained a gunshot injury. She was shifted to a hospital for treatment, police said.
Vaid said: "The bodies of the slain terrorists can be seen inside the house where they were hiding. We are retrieving the bodies."
Earlier, dozens of youth started throwing stones at the security forces near the site of the gunfight as the gun battle progressed. Over 20 protesters were injured in the clashes.
Clashes also erupted in Pulwama town and HMT area of Srinagar from where two of the four slain militants belonged.
Authorities have suspended mobile Internet services in all four south Kashmir districts and in Srinagar to check the spread of any kind of rumours.
In another incident, eight security personnel including local policemen and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were injured when militants hurled a grenade and then resorted to firing at a police patrol party in Tral town of Pulwama.
Meanwhile, Governor N.N.Vohra on Friday visited Baltal base camp of Amarnath Yatra to take stock of the arrangements for this year's Yatra which begins on June 28.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
