Jammu and Kashmir police on Sunday said that the militants who were trapped in Shighanpora area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district managed to flee after an initial exchange of gunfire with the government forces, taking advantage of the darkness.
The government forces including the police, the army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles, and Central Reserve Police Force had laid a siege at Shighanpora village of Kulgam district midnight after specific inputs about the presence of militants.
A police official said that after forces zeroed in on the suspected house, the hiding militants opened fire. “However, there was no further contact with the militants even as searches were carried out throughout the day,” he said.
A police official told a local news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that during the intervening night of 8 and 9 August, a specific input was received by Kulgam police about the presence of militants in the area.
“During the search operation, militants fired indiscriminately at the searching parties of forces. The troops immediately took cover and retaliated. Militants took advantage of darkness and fled from the spot,” he said—(KNO)
