Cop killed, four injured in Sopore militant attack

Barely a few hours after the killing of a policeman in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, militants attacked a police party in north Kashmir’s volatile Sopore town, killing at least one policeman and injuring four others, including an officer.

Police said militants lobbed a grenade on a party of the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police near Chota Bazar, Sopore, 52 km from here, around 2:45 am, resulting in the immediate death of constable Muhammad Syed Khan while causing injuries to Inspector Dilraj, head constable Yousuful Umar and constables Anayatullah and Imtiyaz.

The incident, according to reports, took place when the SOG personnel were chasing a group of alleged stone-pelters during nocturnal protests in the area.

Reports said soon after the incident the Army, the police and the CRPF cordoned off the area and launched massive searches to nab the attackers. 

Senior police officers including Inspector General of Police, Kashmir A G Mir visited Sopore and took stock of the situation.

Disguised attack

A police spokesperson said militants lobbed a grenade and fired indiscriminately on a police party “who were tackling a stone-pelting mob in Sopore.”

“At midnight miscreants pelted stones on police, CRPF bunkers at SBI and main Chowk, Sopore. While the stone pelters were being tackled, militants among the stone-pelters hurled a grenade and fired upon the police party resulting in on-the-spot death of a constable and injuries to four others,” he said

The police party exhibited utmost restraint and did not retaliate as there was every apprehension of civilian casualties, he added.

A Hizb-ul-Mujahideen spokesman, Baleeg-u-Din, claimed responsibility for the attack. A local news agency KNS, quoting his tele statement, said, “Our cadres carried out the attack in Sopore.”

On Friday evening militants had shot dead a police constable who was regulating traffic at Bijbehara in south Kashmir district of Anantnag.

Meanwhile, the Opposition Peoples Democratic Party has strongly condemned the killing of two policemen in Bijbehara and Sopore. 

In a statement, party president Mehbooba Mufti said the killings have no place in a civilised society and it only led to tragedies.