After Hizb chief ‘ultimatum’, militants gun down three cops in south Kashmir

KAPARAN: Three policemen were allegedly taken from their homes in Kashmir early on Friday morning by armed militants and were found dead hours later with gunshot wounds, two days after the Hizbul Mujahideen issued a “final ultimatum” for locals to resign from police jobs.

The victims were two police constables and a special police officer (SPO) kidnapped from the villages of Batagund and Kaparan. All three, Nisar Ahmad, Kulwant Singh and Firdous Kuchay, were found dead at apple orchards nearby, while a fourth person – a relative of one of them — was let go.

Jammu and Kashmir’s director general of police (DGP), Dilbagh Singh, said the killings were an “act of desperation”. “Police successfully carried out operations against militants and now they chose soft targets when they (policemen) were at home. We condemn this act,” he said.

An official in the state police said militant group Hizbul as well as Lashkar e-taiba were suspected for the murders. He asked not to be named.

This year, at least 37 policemen have been killed by militants, many of them while they were at home on leave. Friday’s deaths took place close to south Kashmir’s Shopian, a district where local support has been strong for militants.

A family member of one of the victims, SPO Kulwant Singh, said the abductors, armed with Kalashnikov rifles, asked him to go with them for questioning.

“My cousin was abducted by a group of gunmen who came to his house in the early hours when most of the family members were sleeping,” said Jagdish Singh.