Gunmen loot ₹3.28L from bank in Kulgam

Two suspected militants on Friday looted around Rs 3,28,000 from a branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, the biggest in the state, in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, police said.

Officials said the militants barged into J&K Bank’s branch in Khudwani area of Kulgam in the afternoon.

“The two militants overpowered the guard of the bank, showed him a gun and then took away the money,” Kulgam’s superintendent of police Harmeet Singh said. The security forces immediately cordoned the area to trace the robbers.

Last year, there were a series of bank robberies in Kashmir and a majority of them targeted J&K Bank. The bank stopped cash transactions for some time in at least 40 branches in south Kashmir after the robberies.

Police blamed militants of Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashkar-eTaiba for the incidents, saying they were “cash-starved”.

The surge in robberies was reported after the Centre announced the scrapping of ~500 and ~1,000 currency notes on November 8, 2016. The militants, however, had vehemently denied the allegations.

ARMY PATROL FACES ATTACK IN BANDIPORA

An army patrol was attacked on Friday by militants in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bandipora district. No casualties were reported. The patrol party of the army was fired at by militants in Hajin area, army sources said.

“There was a brief exchange of fire, following which the militants escaped. There was no casualty on our side,” sources added.

This is the first incident of an attack on the security forces by militants after the Union home ministry announced non-initiation of combat operations during the holy month of Ramzan.

SRINAGAR:

RIFLES SNATCHED FROM SRINAGAR POLICE POST

Suspected militants on Thursday night snatched three rifles from police personnel at a guard post in Dalgate area of Srinagar, officials said. Security forces have cordoned off the area to track down the attackers, a police official said, adding that further details of the incident were awaited.

This is the second incident of rifle snatching in the city. Unidentified people had allegedly snatched a rifle of a policeman guarding the Kashmir University in Srinagar’s Hazratbal area on Wednesday, police had said.