Srinagar, Nov 6 : Two Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) militants, including an Army deserter, were Tuesday killed in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.
Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in Safanagri area of Zainapora of south Kashmir in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday after receiving credible inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police spokesperson said.
He said as the search operation was going on, the hiding militants fired on the search party of the forces.
The spokesperson said the forces retaliated the fire, leading to an encounter in which two militants were killed.
The slain ultras have been identified as Mohammad Idrees Sultan alias Chota Abrar, a resident of Safanagri Shopian and Amir Hussain Rather alias Abu Sobaan, a resident of Awneera Shopian.
"They were affiliated with proscribed terror outfit HM and were involved in terror attacks on security establishments and many other civilian atrocities in the area," he said.
The spokesperson said Sultan was a deserter from the Indian Army and had joined the militant ranks in April this year. "No collateral damage took place during the operation," he said.
Incriminating materials, including arms and ammunition, were seized from the site of the encounter, he said. Police have registered a case and initiated investigation into the matter, he said.
He appealed to the people not to venture inside the encounter zone since such an area can be dangerous due to stray explosive materials.
"People are requested to cooperate with police till the area is completely sanitised and cleared of all the explosives materials if any," the spokesperson said.
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Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
