Srinagar: A fierce encounter between two militants holed up in a hotel in Srinagar since 19.00 hours (IST) on August 27, ended early on August 28 morning with five deaths and several people injured.

Both the militants, who had entered Hotel Greenway and engaged in exchange of fire with security forces for about 12 hours, are believed to be among the dead.

Three other bodies were recovered from the hotel. These are believed to be those of National Conference leader Javed Shah, a former militant and former MLC, his bodyguard and an unidentified civilian.

The four-storey hotel building caught fire during small hours of August 28 morning when the encounter was continuing but fire fighters extinguished the fire later.

Those injured in the encounter, included Border Security Force (BSF) DIF Desh Raj who received a gash in the shoulder on August 27 night but his condition was described as stable on August 28 morning.

PTI