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Indian police Tuesday refuted claims of local residents that the seven persons killed during Monday's gunfight in a village close to line- of-control (LoC) in Indian-controlled Kashmir were civilians.
"There is no civilian in this group that has been eliminated by a joint operation of army and police on Monday," J. P Singh, senior police official told media during a press briefing called by Indian army following the attacks. "All of them were foreign militants."
Indian army on Monday said it has killed seven militants during a fierce gunfight at Dardpura-Lolab in frontier Kupwara district, around 125 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
The killings Tuesday triggered violent clashes after hundreds of angry villagers marched to the local police station suspecting the slain men to be civilians. The protesters set ablaze two bunkers and damaged several police vehicles. Police fired warning shots and tear smoke shells to disperse the crowd.
At least 15 people, including five policemen and three journalists, were wounded in the violent clashes, police said
The situation was later defused after police handed over the bodies to locals for burial.
"The dead bodies have been properly handed over to the local Anjuman-I-Awqaf (village religious committee) for burial after asserting that none of them is a local,"Singh said.
"We have maintained the photographs and other identities of the persons killed in gunfight and if there is any doubt or claim that can be verified," he added.
The Indian army said they have recovered arms and ammunition from the gunfight site."This is one of the most successful operations in recent times," said Lt. Gen. S K Saini, a senior Indian army officer.
"The documents recovered from the slain militants indicate they were affiliated to Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militant outfit," he noted.
The operation was underway to trace more militants in the area, and the army and police had jointly launched the operation following intelligence inputs about presence of militants in the area, Saini said.
Meanwhile, the region's hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani has called for a complete shutdown in the region on Friday to protest what he termed "mysterious killings."
The incident must be probed by an independent international body, he said.
LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India and Pakistan controlled parts. A guerrilla war has been going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989. There are intermittent gun battles between the two sides across the region.
