Srinagar: Police on Friday claimed that the militant killed in an encounter in south Kashmir's Anantnag district on Thursday was a history sheeter and had decamped with a rifle from a police station after which he fired towards an army patrol where he was killed in the exchange of firing.
"At about 1720 hrs an accused person namely Sajad Malik alias Bita Malik decamped with an AK rifle along with one magazine from police station Dooru.
"After firing some shots near the market and taking advantage of the darkness, he managed to escape towards Zamalgam village," a police spokesman said here.
Near Cherikari village of Anantnag, Malik fired towards an army patrol. "The fire was retaliated and in the exchange of fire, Malik got killed," the spokesman said.
He said the deceased was a released militant and a "history sheeter", who "was already arrested in militancy cases in various police stations".
Yesterday, Jammu and Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee (JKPCC) president G A Mir demanded a judicial probe into the killing, saying the deceased was an ex-sarpanch belonging to his party.
"Malik was accused by the state of participating in a protest rally (during the unrest), which may be true and for which there is the law of the land to deal with it," Mir said yesterday.
He termed the killing as "politically motivated custodial murder".
