Budgam Encounter: 3 Locals, 1 Militant Killed in Clash With Army

Officials said protesters started pelting stones while security forces were engaged in a gun battle with militants.

Three civilians and one militant were killed on Tuesday in Chadoora area of central Kashmir's Budgam district.

While the militant was killed in an encounter with the forces, the three civilians were killed when the security personnel reportedly opened fire on stone-pelting protesters near the encounter site.

“The operation was really difficult. We had to fight it on two different platforms, against militants and against local people,” Sanjay Kumar, DIG, CRPF said. He added that 43 CRPF jawans have been injured in the encounter.

“A few people really made our day difficult. Lot of commotion, stone pelting, abusing and injuring our people,” Kumar said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation in the Durbugh area of Chadoora in the early hours of Tuesday following information about the presence of militants, a police official said.

He said the search operation turned into a gun battle after militants opened fire on security forces.

As the security forces were engaged in a gun battle with holed-up militants, a large number of protesters started pelting stones at the law enforcing agencies, the official said.

He said one person was hit by a bullet in the neck and died while being rushed to the hospital. While one of the deceased civilians was identified as 22-year-old Zahid Rashid Bhat, another youth who was killed was identified as Saqib Ahmad, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

Seventeen others sustained injuries as security forces fired pellet guns and tear smoke shells in a bid to disperse the protesters, the official said.

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