A policeman was killed when militants fired upon the residence of a Bharatiya Janata Party leader in Nowgam area of Srinagar outskirts Thursday. The militants also took away the service rifle of the slain policeman.
This was the second hit and run attack by the militants in a week in Srinagar. Police said that four militants carried out the attack and a hunt has been launched to nab them.
The attack was carried out at the residence of BJP leader Muhammad Anwar Khan. He was not present when the incident took place.
“The militants attacked house guard of BJP leader Anwar Khan at Nowgam,” said Senior Superintendent of Police Srinagar, Sandeep Chaudhary. “One sentry Rameez Raja was critically injured in the attack and later succumbed to his injuries.”
Police said that Rameez was shifted to SMHS Hospital but was declared ‘brought dead’ by the doctors. Rameez was a resident of Khushipora Dooru in Anantnag district of southern Kashmir.
Soon after the incident, senior police officers including IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, arrived at the spot to take stock of the situation. The incident created panic in the entire area. Security forces carried out a cordon and search operation in the area to nab the attackers, however none was arrested.
This was the second hit and run attack by the militants in Srinagar in a week. On 25 March, militants attacked CRPF on Srinagar-Baramulla highway in which three paramilitary personnel were killed.
Later talking to reporters on the sidelines of wreath-laying ceremony held here, IGP Vijay Kumar said that four militants – including one in burqa – carried out the attack at the residence of the BJP leader.
IGP said that he visited the place of occurrence. He said that there was one sentry and two others were in guard room. “As per CCTV footage, a burqa-clad militant came and in woman’s voice asked the sentry to open the door,” he said adding that as soon as the door was opened two more militants came and fired indiscriminately.
“Policeman was killed and Anwar Khan was not at his residence,” he said, adding that another militant came and snatched the rifle.
The Kashmir police chief said that two militants have been identified. “Both of them are from Srinagar city and belong to LeT outfit,” he said. “One is Khurshid from Chanapora who is a categorized militant and another is Obaid Shafi Dar.”
He said that two other militants are yet to be identified. “These two are among six youth who have joined militant ranks during last year,” he said adding that security forces are tracking them. “We have been carrying out many operations but success eludes us so far in February and March. There was also a CASO in Chanapora today morning,” he said.
Wreath-laying ceremony of Rameez was attended by senior officers of police, paramilitary forces and civil administration. The officers included Divisional Commissioner Kashmir P. K. Pole, IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar, IG CRPF Deepak Rathan, DIG CKR Amit Kumar, DC Srinagar Mohammad Aijaz Asad, DIG CRPF North Dr. Davinder Jeet Singh, DIG CRPF South D. S Maan , SSP Srinagar Sandeep Chaudhary, SSP Security Sheikh Zulfikar Azad, SSP Traffic Manzoor Ahmad, SP Headquarters Srinagar M. Majid Malik, CO SSB S.D. Sher Khan, CO CRPF U.P. Singh, CO CRPF T.H. Khan, Mubashir Hussain SP North Zone, Sajad Shah SP South Zone, DySP DAR Srinagar.