Militants strike police station in Shopian, shoot dead constable

SRINAGAR: 23YEAROLD SAQIB MIR WAS INJURED WHEN MILITANTS FIRED INDISCRIMINATELY AT THE SHOPIAN POLICE STATION THAT HE WAS GUARDING IN THE WEE HOURS OF SUNDAY

Militants shot dead a constable guarding a police station in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Sunday, continuing attacks on the forces weeks before the state holds local body and panchayat elections.

Saqib Mir (23) was injured when militants fired indiscriminately at the Shopian police station in the wee hours. As jawans retaliated to the attack, Mir as taken to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to injuries, a police spokesman said.

The wreath laying ceremony of Mir was held at the district police lines where senior police officers, including Deputy inspector general (DIG) Amit Kumar, senior superintendent of police (SSP) Sandeep Choudhary and other officers and jawans were present.

The escalation in violence comes ahead of the scheduled urban local body and panchayat polls in Jammu and Kashmir which will be held from October to December.

Banned group Hizbul Mujahideen kidnapped and killed three policemen, two of them special police officers (SPO), two weeks ago.

On Thursday, six persons, including a civilian and an unidentified man, were killed in four separate incidents of violence across Kashmir.

An SPO, who was deployed with a People’s Democratic Party MLA, ran off with seven rifles from the lawmaker’s residence in Srinagar, police said on Friday.

While militants and separatists have asked people to boycott, the polls are being seen as part of the Centre’s efforts to turn the tide in the state, where local militant recruits and violence have escalated since Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani’s killing in July 2016.