Protests over civilian’s killing in the Valley

They closed down shops forcefully, demanded probe and refused to take the body for burial. Former Housing Minister and Tangmarg MLA Ghulam Hassan Mir joined them and took up the matter with senior Army officials. ‘‘The villagers are demanding action against the guilty. I have taken up the matter with the Core Commander 15 Corps…,’’ he said.

On the assurance of Mir, they dispersed and buried him. Army spokesman, Lt Col V K Batra, however, said the civilian was injured along with the officer in the crossfire. ‘‘Troops have been carrying out search in the area for the last three days as they had information on presence of militants. In the last three days, troops have killed two militants and have been searching for the third,’’ he said.

‘‘This morning, the Army got information on presence of a third militant in a house. As the troops led by Maj Vohra surrounded the house, a militant hiding in the house opened fire on the troops resulting injuries to the civilian and Major Vohra. Both were shifted to hospital by the Army, where Rather succumbed to injuries,’’ he said.

Batra said the militant fled. ‘‘Villagers also saw troops chasing the militant but he fled,’’ said the spokesman adding that some miscreants staged a protest to sabotage operations.