Two policemen and an equal number of civilians were killed while three cops and another civilian received critical injuries in a daring strike by a group of three motorcycle borne terrorists in the Arampora area of Sopore town of North Kashmir's Baramulla district on Saturday.
According to police, two local and one foreign terrorist belonging to the Lashkar-e- Taiba terrorist outfit were suspected to be behind the attack. The policemen were deployed in the area to strictly enforce Covid-19 protocol.
A massive manhunt to track down the footprints of local terrorists were launched soon after they ran away after hitting the target.
The terror strike took place at a time when peace talks centering around the Kashmir issue started gaining currency and the stakeholders were weighing their options on whether to grab the opportunity or not. Earlier, Rakesh Pandita a BJP councillor from Tral area of Pulwama was killed in cold blood on June 2.
Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range Vijay Kumar who reached the spot told reporters, "the terrorists targeted police naka set up in the Arampora area to strictly enforce Covid-19 protocol".
Kumar said, motorcycle borne terrorists targeted the policemen from behind leading to critical injuries. Policemen also retaliated against the fire. "Two policemen and two local civilians succumbed to their injuries in the Sopore hospital".
Among the injured cops, ASI Mukesh Kumar has been referred to a Srinagar hospital for specialized treatment. Another injured police man has been identified as SPO Danish.
Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha and leaders of several other mainstream political parties condemned the terror attack on the police party.
According to a police spokesman, " at around 12.00 p.m unidentified terrorists fired indiscriminately upon a police party which was performing Covid enforcement duties at main market Sopore". In this terror incident, "four policemen and four civilians received bullet injuries who were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. Among the injured police personnel, Ct Showkat Ahmad & Ct Waseem Ahmad succumbed to their injuries and attained martyrdom. Two civilians identified as Manzoor Ahmad Shalla resident of Shalimar Colony Sopore and Bashir Ahmad resident of Mahrajpora Sopore also succumbed to their injuries".
