Another J&K cop too martyred; 3 ultras neutralised
The fortified central Kashmir districts of Budgam and Srinagar on Friday witnessed two back to back terror strikes in which three Jammu & Kashmir policemen attained martyrdom while another received injuries.
Three local terrorists belonging to Al-Badr terrorist outfit were also gunned down by the joint team of the security forces soon after they rescued the family members from inside the house in which these three terrorists were hiding in Badigam area of South Kashmir’s Shopian district.
These three incidents of terrorist violence came close on the heels of the visit of foreign diplomats from 24 countries to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir.
The most daring strike of the day was reported from Baghat Barzulla area at the outskirts of Srinagar where a pheran-clad terrorist fired indiscriminately upon policemen with an automatic weapon concealed inside his Pheran.
The attack took place steps away from the local police station in the busy market area. The gory images of the terror attack, recorded in the CCTV footage, went viral immediately. The unarmed policemen were targeted from behind while they were seen standing in front of a local shop.
In this terror incident, two policemen namely SgCT Mohammad Yousuf of Zurhama Kupwara and Ct Suhail Ahmad of Logripora Aishmuqam received critical gunshot injuries. They were shifted to hospital for treatment where they succumbed to their injuries and attained martyrdom.
Suhail Ahmad, residence of Logripora Aishmuqam, was an orphan. He left behind his widow mother, wife and two small kids. A Special Police office (SPO) martyred in the Beerwah area of Budgam has been identified as Mohammad Altaf while SgCt Manzoor Ahmad received injuries and is undergoing treatment in a local hospital.
Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha paid tributes to the J&K policemen who attained martyrdom in the terrorist attack. He said such cowardly attacks are being carried out to vitiate the peaceful atmosphere & assured that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
Briefing media persons after attending the wreath laying ceremony at DPL, Srinagar for the second time during the day, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range Vijay Kumar said that two Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists, including a local resident, carried out the attack in which two policemen were killed in Baghat area of Barzulla in Srinagar on Friday and that both attackers have been identified.
The IGP said that two Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) terrorists including a foreign terrorist and a local who has been identified as Saqib, carried out the Baghat attack. The two policemen were on routine duty and were at a shop to buy something. They were fired from the back.
On how the terrorist managed to target policemen in front of a police station and also ran away from the spot, IGP said, “We will go for a security review and plug the loopholes. Had the policemen with weapons, perhaps they would have retaliated?”
Sharing details of the Shopian encounter IGP Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said, “late Thursday night at about 11.35 p.m based on specific input regarding presence of terrorists in village Badigam area of Shopian, a joint cordon and search operation was launched by Police, 44RR and 178Bn CRPF in the said area.”
“During the search operation as the presence of terrorists got ascertained, repeated announcements were made to the hiding terrorists to lay down their illegal weapons and surrender, instead the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately and also managed to keep some of the inmates as hostage,” he said.
He went on to add that due to darkness the operation was suspended, however, the cordon remained intact throughout night.
“On Friday morning with the first light, the joint party was able to evacuate the hostage. Repeated announcements were again made to terrorists to surrender, but the terrorists fired indiscriminately on security forces which was retaliated resulting in elimination of all the three hiding terrorists,” he said.
According to a police spokesman, “The terrorists killed in the operation have been identified as Suhail Sheikh @Azeem son of Abdul Ghani Sheikh resident of Turkwangam, Shahid Ahmad Dar @Furkan son of Bashir Ahmad Dar resident of Samboora Awantipora and Muddasir Ahmad Wagay son of Fayaz Ahmad Wagay resident of Chak Sangren, affiliated with proscribed terror outfit Al-Badr”.
“The bodies of all the three killed terrorists were retrieved from the site of encounter. Arms & ammunition including 2 AK rifles, 5 AK magazines, 96 AK rounds, 1 pistol, 1 pistol magazine, 5 pistol rounds and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of encounter,” he said.
In another incident, Budgam police, 53RR and 79Bn CRPF launched a joint cordon and search operation in village Zanigam Beerwah of Budgam.
During the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired indiscriminately upon the joint search party in which two J&K police personnel namely Mohammad Altaf 1444/SPO and SgCt Manzoor Ahmad 761/AP 13th Bn received gunshot injuries. However, one of the injured, Mohammad Altaf, succumbed to his injuries and attained martyrdom. Another injured policeman has been shifted to hospital.
“Taking advantage of the darkness, the terrorists managed to escape in an injured condition from the spot. Efforts were on to track the terrorists”, the police spokesman said.
