Militants attack CRPF men in J&K; holed up in school

CRPF sub-inspector killed, jawan injured Search op on

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) subinspector was killed and another jawan injured when militants opened fire at a stationary vehicle they were sitting inside at Pantha Choak, along the SrinagarJammu highway. A civilian pedestrian was also injured in the shooting, officials said.

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba claimed responsibility for the attack.

After the attack, which began at 5.50 pm about six kilometres from city centre Lal Chowk, the assailants ran into the nearby Delhi Public School campus which was encircled by the security forces to start operation to flush them out, officials said.

All school staff and students had already left the campus by the time militants ran into the building.

While the security forces were readying for the operation, a policeman accidentally fired his weapon injuring a J&K policeman and a CRPF jawan, reports said.

“The search operation is going on,” the CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav said. Police sources, however, said that the militants may have escaped as it took the security forces 30-35 minutes to lay dragnet around the campus.

A CRPF spokesman said, “SI Sahab Singh and constable driver Nissar Ahmed were injured in the terrorist attack. The former succumbed to his injuries whereas the latter has been admitted to Srinagar’s 92-Base Army Hospital.”

Lashkar-e-Tayyaba’s spokesman, Dr Abdullah

Continued from Page 1 Ghaznavi, in a statement to local news agency KNS, said, “Mujahideen of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba attacked the CRPF party at Pantha Choak on SrinagarJammu highway. Three CRPF men were killed in the attack and several others were injured.”

The police and witnesses said that the militants fired their AK-47 assault rifles to target the vehicle carrying men from the CRPF’s 29 Battalion. After the attack, the militants ran into the nearby school campus. “Two gunmen are inside the main school building. An appeal has been made to them to surrender,” a police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told this correspondent.

Vijay Kumar Dhar, the pro vice-chairman of the school, confirmed the presence of two gunmen inside the school building. He, however, added all the school staff and students were safe as they had already left the campus.

DPS (Srinagar) campus is located at a stone’s throw from the place where the attack took place and its management had flashed messages to parents on their mobile phones saying, “All students and staff are safe.” However, on hearing about the incident many panicky parents had already headed for the school.