Believing his militant son trapped in encounter, father dies of cardiac arrest

A father of a militant today died of cardiac arrest after hearing rumours that his son was among the ultras trapped in an encounter with security forces in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.

Mohammad Ishaq Naikoo reportedly suffered a massive heart attack after being told that his son Zeenat Naikoo was among the militants trapped in the cordon of security forces at Kudullan in Shopian this morning, a police official said.

Naikoo senior, a resident of Meemandar in Shopian, was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead, the official said.

Zeenat, who has reportedly joined militant ranks two months ago, was not among the two Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militants, including a Pakistani national, killed in the encounter.

The slain terrorists were identified as Sameer Ahmad Sheikh, a local, and Babar from Pakistan, police said.