Five Kashmiris killed as India steps up operations

Five suspected militants were killed yesterday in a dawn firefight with hundreds of troops in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, as New Delhi escalates counter-insurgency efforts in the union territory, report agencies.

The fatalities pushed the death toll during the current escalation – which has ramped up since India’s nationwide coronavirus lockdown started in late March – to 14 alleged militants in four days.
The men, who were in an underground hideout at an apple orchard near Sugoo village south of the main city of Srinagar, were surrounded by the troops before daybreak, a local police officer said.

"Five militants were killed in the firefight that ensued. Their bodies and five weapons were retrieved from the site," army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said.

Kashmir has been in turmoil since last August when New Delhi revoked its semi-autonomous status and imposed a communications blackout that has not been fully lifted.
At least 93 militants, including six top commanders, have been killed by security forces since January.

The 14 deaths in three firefights have taken place in the picturesque southern Kashmir valley region, known for its vast apple orchards.

The shootouts have also sparked clashes between government forces and angry villagers who support the militants.

Two civilians have also been shot dead by unknown gunmen in recent days, including a village official from the Congress party. Police blamed the killings on rebels.

Last month, Riyaz Naikoo, commander of the region's main militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed.
Rebel groups enjoy broad popular support.
The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians, since 1989.

Jammu and Kashmir police officer Davinder Singh, who was arrested while ferrying two Hizbul Mujahideen militants on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, withdrew his interim bail application yesterday, a day after filing it in a Delhi court.

His lawyer M S Khan said: "Davinder's bail has been withdrawn as certain changes had to be made. We would be filing another plea in few days."

On June 9,  Singh and two other accused – Syed Naveed Mushtaq and Imran Shafi Mir – filed the bail petition, asserting that "there is no evidence to show that there was any conspiracy to commit an act that would threaten the sovereignty of the country."

The matter was listed for hearing yesterday.

"The accused are wrongly and falsely implicated in the case. There is also no material to substantiate that the accused had the intention or conspired to carry out a terror strike," the plea stated.

The Special Cell of the Delhi police is probing their role in alleged planning of a terror attack.

Singh is under judicial custody in Hira Nagar Jail in Kashmir till June 16.

Another accused, Javed Iqbal, is also in custody.
The police's Special Cell had brought the suspended police officer from Hira Nagar Jail to the national capital in March for interrogation in another case.

Police had earlier told the court that Mushtaq, who is the commander of Shopian district of Hizbul Mujahiddeen, was, along with other militants, planning to carry out a terror attack in Delhi and other parts of the country and targeted killings of protected persons.