Saturday, February 19 2005 11:16 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Srinagar: A self-styled battalion commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and a teenaged girl were among four persons killed in separate incidents in Jammu and Kashmir, a police spokesman said yesterday (Feb 18, 2005).

The battalion commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Bahadur alias Kalam Mulla was killed in an encounter with security forces at Sounasadnar in Baramulla district of North Kashmir on Thursday night (Feb 17, 2005), the spokesman said.

He said that an AK rifle, three magazines, 45 rounds, a wireless set, a rifle grenade and a hand grenade were recovered from the deceased militant who was wanted in a large number of militancy-related incidents in the north Kashmir districts of Baramulla and Kupwara.

In another encounter, the spokesman said troops of Rashtriya Rifles shot dead an unidentified militant during search operations at Ghanapora arash near Shopian in Pulwama district of South Kashmir yesterday morning (Feb 18, 2005).

He said that the militants intruded into the house of a policeman Mohammad Tayoub Shah at Batapora village of Kulgam in Anantnag and shot dead his 17-year-old daughter Shafeeqa.

Shafeeqa was dragged out and shot dead by militants who suspected that she was a police informer, official sources said.

They said that the police recovered bullet-riddled body of an unidentified person from Trichinar in Rajouri district yesterday.

In a separate incident, security forces apprehended two over-ground workers of militants during search operations at Arsi-Kishtwar in Doda and recovered one Improvised Explosion Device (IED) initiating device, a detonator and a 12-bore gun from them, the spokesman said.