The 48-hour encounter between militants and the Army next to the 15 Corps headquarters ended this evening with the killing of two fidayeens. An Army Major and a jawan also died in the operation, and three others were injured.The militants’ bodies were recovered when the Army was searching the debris of the building. This morning, the Army launched a fresh assault on a building next to the BSNL telephone exchange, where a militant had taken refuge and was firing at troops who had surrounded the building. As the Army was closing in, the extremist hurled a grenade, killing a Major and a soldier of 32 Rashtriya Rifles and injured three jawans. The Major has been identified as Navneet Vats. Later troops used mortars and IEDs to blast the building in which militants were hiding.15 Corps spokesman Brigadier Ramesh Halgali said: ‘‘As the militants had taken shelter in the congested area, the operation lasted for more time to avoid any civilian casualty.’’ He added: ‘‘An unidentified body of a militant and another of a BSNL employee (later identified as Kuldeep Kumar) was recovered from the building debris. The militant who was putting up resistance was killed in the afternoon, the cordon has been lifted now and buildings neighbouring the exchange are being thoroughly searched,’’ said Mohammad Amin Shah, DIG, Kashmir.IG, CRPF, V.B. Singh said: ‘‘Though the attack on the CRPF battalion was repulsed, we will be strengthening security of our camps in the city. In the coming days, our troops will be taking more precautions.’’Among other casualties, three senior Army officials, five CRPF personnel and a civilian sustained bullet injuries. Seven houses neighbouring the building were also damaged in the firing.
