Jaish terrorists gun down 4 policemen in Shopian
Strongly condemn attack... Bears repetition, violence achieves nothing but destruction.
MEHBOOBA MUFTI, PDP chief
SRINAGAR: Four policemen, guarding a minority pocket in Shopian district, were shot dead and their service rifles taken away by militants belonging to Jaish-e-mohammad on Tuesday, police said.
The incident took place at Zainapora village when militants entered into a guard room where four police personnel were present, a police official said.
The deceased policemen were identified as Abdul Majeed, Mehraj-ud-din, Anees and Hameedullah. Police spokesman said, “Militants fired indiscriminately on a guard post at Zainapora in which four jawans sustained injuries. Three of the jawans succumbed to the injuries while another injured jawan has been shifted to the hospital succumbed later.’’
Security forces have cordoned off the area to track down the attackers, he said.
Earlier in August, four police- men were killed in Bongam in Shopian when militants fired on them from an orchard. The militants also took away the rifles of policemen.
This year, at least 40 policemen have been killed by militants in different parts of Kashmir.
Former J&K chief minister and People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack on the police post.
“Strongly condemn attack on policemen in Shopian claiming three precious lives. Bears repetition, violence achieves nothing but destruction. Solidarity with families of jawans,’’ she tweeted.
Quoting eyewitnesses, the police officer said militants fired indiscriminately, killing three policemen on the spot and critically injuring one.
Immediately after the shootout, the terrorists fled with three Ak-series rifles and one Self Loading Rifles (SLR) of the policemen, the officer said.
The officer maintained that an intercept had been received in which it was clear that the Jaishe-mohammed, a banned terrorist organisation, was behind the barbaric act.
Jammu and Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik expressed grief over the killing of the police- men in the terror attack.
Malik prayed for the departed souls and conveyed his sympathies to the bereaved families.
The incident drew sharp criticism from all political parties.
National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah tweeted, “I strongly condemn the attack on the police post in Shopian and condole the deaths of three @Jmukmrpolice personnel in the line of duty.”
The Congress said, “The killings or violence has neither served any purpose nor will benefit anyone, rather such type of dastardly acts will have serious implications on the society, besides vitiating the peace.”
Criticising the “cowardly attack”, the BJP state unit said the “jihadi terror and violence” against the security personnel was part of a “sinister design” to subvert morale of the police force.