Nc Leader Among 3 Killed, Explosives Seized In Kashmir

Militants gunned down three people, including a National Conference halqa president, and wounded four others in the Kashmir valley while troops seized 102 kgs of explosives and arrested two militants since Sunday evening.

Firing and stray clashes between supporters of bandh and police marred the second day of the general strike called by the banned Hizbul Mujahideen to protest the alleged custodial death of its four top leaders.

The bandh disrupted normal life in Srinagar and other parts of the valley for the second successive day yesterday.

The body of a National Conference halqa president, Ghulzar Ahmad Khan was recovered yesterday from Gogjipathri in Badgam district. Khan was shot dead by militants late on Sunday night and his body was thrown in the area, police said.

Police had launched a hunt to nab the militants responsible for the killing.

Khan is the third activist of the ruling party who fell to the bullets of militants in the valley within a week. Earlier, militants gunned down a former MLA of National Conference, Ghulam Rasool Bhat, and a mohalla president, Ghulam Mohiuddin Daga in Sopore town of Baramulla district on March three and march five respectively.

Unidentified militants shot dead a woman in her house at Omar Mohalla in Kishtwar town of Doda district on Sunday. The militants kidanapped her husband from the house and later stabbed him. He was rushed to a hospital. His condition was stated to be serious, an official spokesman said.

The spokesman said a surrendered militant was killed in a clash with Hizbul Mujahideen militants at Kamad in Anantnag district on Sunday.