http://indianexpress.com/article/in...upt-peace-initiative-in-kashmir-crpf-4925535/
As the Centre’s special representative for Kashmir Dineshwar Sharma began his five-day visit to the state on Monday, the CRPF said there were inputs about militants stepping up violence to disrupt the peace initiative. “There is an input. May be a grenade throwing, may be hit and run attack. There is an indication that they (militants) may step up violence,” Inspector General of CRPF Ravideep Singh Sahi told reporters here on Monday.
He said, “Whenever any such step (dialogue) is taken, which leads to peace, the enemy will not want it. So, they may try to step up the attacks.” Sahi said while the situation in Kashmir was under control, the security forces need to remain alert. “We keep on receiving inputs about militant activities and their movements. We are alert and the situation is under control,” he said.
The IG CRPF said militants do not have a permanent base in the summer capital here but maintain their presence in the city. “As per information available with us, they do sometimes come to the city. They do not have a permanent base (here), but of course we receive inputs about their presence on the city outskirts. And (based) on these inputs, we carried out some operations and many commanders have been neutralised,” he said.
Sahi said there has been a reduction in the number of stone-pelting incidents in the Valley this year. In 2017, there has been a significant reduction in stone pelting, especially after April, he said, adding that the stone pelting, however, still takes place at the encounter sites and termed it as a cause of concern. “By and large, the spontaneous stone-pelting in city from law and order point has reduced to a large extent,” he said.
Asked about the reason for decline in stone-pelting incidents, Sahi said the people of the Valley have understood that it does not have any positive result. “It also has an adverse impact on image of Kashmiri people outside and economy as well. Besides, the operations were also carried out and also the NIA operations could be the reason,” the IG CRPF said.
“There are multiple reasons,” he added, referring to the NIA investigation into terror funding. Sharma on Monday reached here for a five-day visit to the state during which he will hold talks with various stakeholders.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india...k-s-pulwama/story-aW2avCvfeOSCoxBxvayuaN.html
An encounter broke out following inputs about the presence of militants in Kandil Aglar village of Pulwama district of south Kashmir.
india Updated: Nov 06, 2017 22:47 IST
Ashiq Hussain
Hindustan Times, Srinagar
Indian Army personnel during an encounter in Pulwama district.(PTI file photo)
An army jawan and three militants were killed in an encounter between militants and security forces in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, on a day the Centre’s interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma arrived in the state to initiate the dialogue process.
A civilian was also wounded during clashes between protesters and security forces near the encounter site.
Officials said the gun fight broke out after a joint team of the army, police and CRPF launched a search operation following inputs about the presence of militants in Kandil Aglar village of Pulwama.
The police control room in Pulwama said the encounter started around 6pm after the militants opened fire at the security forces.
Kashmir inspector general of police Muneer Khan told HT Monday evening that they were trying to ascertain the identities of the three militants. “Possibly one should be local and two were foreigners,” Khan said, adding that they were searching the area.
An army spokesman said two AK-47 rifles and one pistol were recovered from the site.
Police said the three slain militants were involved in an attack on Sunday in Pulwama in which a policeman was killed.
Local reports said protests also erupted near the encounter site, in which a civilian received bullet injuries. The police control room in Pulwama confirmed that protests took place near the encounter site.
Pulwama superintendent of police Mohammad Aslam confirmed that a civilian was wounded during the operation, and was referred to the SKIMS hospital in Srinagar.
A police spokesman later said the civilian was injured in crossfire.
Syed Amin Tabish, medical superintendent at SKIMS, said they were evaluating the injured civilian, who is around 18 years old. “He is stable,” Tabish told HT late in the evening.
The violence took place at a time when Dineshwar Sharma, a former chief of the Intelligence Bureau who was tasked by the Union government to initiate talks in Kashmir over the three-decade-old insurgency, arrived in Srinagar.
BJP leader ‘targeted’ in Pulwama?
Meanwhile, conflicting reports also emerged about an alleged attack on the vehicle of BJP Yuva Morcha general secretary Abhijeet Mishra in Pulwama.
Mishra had gone to meet the family of BJP youth leader Gowhar Bhat, who was found with his throat slit in Shopian on November 2.
A senior BJP leader, not wishing to be named, said Mishra’s vehicle was apparently targeted at Bonar in Pulwama, while he was returning from Shopian. He said the vehicle bore two bullet marks.
However, an official at the Pulwama police control room denied any militant attack on Mishra. “Our escort was with him and they said nothing happened in Pulwama. His vehicle only had some marks of stones,” the official said.
The Shopian police control room also denied any such attack.
