BOMBAY: Two Punjab militants were killed Thursday in an 18-hour operation by Commandos of the squad in Bombay taking the number of Ultras killed since Wednesday night to seven.
Jakhitar Singh, leader of the militant group holed up in a slum was shot dead by commandos when he came out of his hideout firing from his AK-47. An associate of Jakhtar Singh was killed early Thursday.
The Commandos who kept sustained vigil on the hide-out since Wednesday evening, succeeded in liquidating three militants the same night. A constable died and five people were hurt in the shoot-out while two other suspected militants died in a bomb blast in another part of the city, Bandra on Wednesday.
Police recovered two AK-47 rifles, a light machine gun a large quantity of ammunition along with some literature and pamphlets carrying Khalistan Commando slogans from Jakhtar Singhs hideout.
Meanwhile, anti-militancy operation last launched on Wednesday at bhand up in northeast Bombay, the western Indian coastal city, was still continuing Thursday morning, with four militant’s killed so far in the exchange of fire between the police and holed up militants.
A constable and a hutment dweller were also gunned down in the crossfire, even as police cordoned off the entire area and city police commissioner S. Ramamurthy was himself supervising the operations.
Led by ACPA A Khan and additional commissioner Tyagi, the anti-militancy squad commandos-assisted by nine SRP platoons-have closed in on the hideout, where, police suspect, some more militants are seeking shelter. Two militants were killed in the gun-battle on Wednesday.
Police also recovered two revolvers and some live cartridges from the scene of the encounter. Two more militants were blown to pieces at Khar -Dhanda, a north-west suburb, on Wednesday morning, when the bomb they were carrying on a motorcycle went off accidently, as the vehicle hit a speed breaker.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 20, 1992
