Army soldier foils weapon snatching bid in J&K's Baramulla

Srinagar, Sep 22 One person was injured in preventive firing after his weapon snatching bid was foiled in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla on Wednesday, the army said.

The man, identified as Mousin Manzoor Shallay, 24, tried to snatch the weapon from a soldier, deployed on protection duty at the market place in Azadganj Chowk, Baramulla.

"Individual was shot in the legs to thwart the weapon snatching attempt," army said, adding that Shallay has a history of being on the wrong side of the law, having assaulted a soldier on duty in similar circumstances around two months back.

Army said that he was counselled on that occasion and was let off on the assurance of the family members.

"The individual also has a past police record, in which a case for stone-pelting, during the years 2012 and 2014, had been registered against him. He had earlier gone missing on August 19, 2019 and was apprehended on October 19 at Kralahar Naka, Kanispura in a military operation. Subsequently, he was released from custody on June 22, 2020," army said.

Police have registered a case in the incident and investigation is in progress.