2 cops, 2 civilians killed in J&K firing

Two policemen and as many civilian passersby were killed and three others wounded in a sneak militant attack in Sopore, a town 48-km northwest of Jammu and Kashmir summer capital Srinagar, on Saturday.

J&K’s police chief, Dilbag Singh, blamed proscribed Lashkar-eTayyaba (Let) for the attack and said, “The perpetrators of this crime will soon be brought to justice.” He claimed that the militants who carried out the attack have been identified but refused to divulge their names and other details for “operational reasons.”

The officials said that a police party enforcing the weekend lockdown in Sopore’s Arampora area in view of the Covid-19 pandemic came under attack from gunmen rising from a dark alley at around noon. Four policemen including an Assistant Sub-Inspector and three civilians received grievous gunshot wounds and four of themtwo policemen and two civilians-succumbed at the hospital soon after being taken there, they said.

The slain policemen have been identified as Showkat Ahmed and Waseem Ahmed and civilians as Manzoor Ahmed Shalla and Bashir Ahmed, both local residents. Injured ASI Mukesh Kumar has been brought to Srinagar for specialized treatment at a local hospital, the officials said.

Soon after the attack, reinforcements from J&K police and Central armed police forces laid siege to the area to conduct searches.

However, no arrests had been made till reports last came in.