An encounter between security forces and three militants holed in up a house in south Kashmir’s Pulwama began on Thursday night after the militants attacked the Personal Security Officer of BJP leader Anwar Khan and unsuccessfully tried to snatch his weapon. Till late on Thursday night, the operation was on. Shortly after the security forces launched the operation, local residents threw stones at them in a bid to give the militants a safe passage. Police said the militants tried to snatch the rifle of Khan’s PSO, but failed to do so after another policeman resisted. In the ensuing firing, one policeman identified as Bilal Ahmad suffered injures. Soon after the incident, police, Army and CRPF personnel launched an operation. This was followed by a gunfight between the security forces and militants, believed to be holed up in a house. “Three terrorists in an undisclosed location are trapped and engaged in encounter after an unsuccessful attempt of weapon snatching from PSO of a protected person,’’ DGP S P Vaid said. As the operation was underway, people threw stones at the personnel to help the militants escape from the cordon at Balhama. The forces fired tear smoke shells to disperse the protesters. Officials said that forces have plugged all possible routes to prevent the militants’ escape. There are reports that three militants could be engaged in the encounter, two of them local militants and the third a foreigner.
