Militants shoot dead cop in Kashmir

A policeman was shot dead by unidentified militants in Yaripora area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday.

A police officer said unidentified militants opened fire at constable Gowhar Ahmad Tantary near Kanjikulla bridge in Kulgam, 70 km from here, when he was riding a motorcycle. “Tantary was rushed to hospital, but died on the way. He was posted with the Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and was currently on leave,” he said.

So far, no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the killing.

This is the second incident of a policeman being killed by militants in the district. On June 15, another policeman posted with the SOG was shot dead by militants in Kulgam.

On June 16, six policemen, including Station House Officer Feroz Dar, were killed after a group of heavily armed militants ambushed the vehicle they were travelling in at Achabal area of neighbouring Anantnag district.

The killings come in the wake of warnings by militants to policemen “to quit and return home forthwith or otherwise be prepared to die”.

On June 14, Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Abu Ukasha in a video message had warned the state police to join them for the ‘Kashmiri cause’.

“Why do you want to win applause from (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi for killing your own brothers? You have to live and die with us only,” Ukasha said on June 14.

In March this year, after militants threatened the families of several officers, especially in south Kashmir, state police chief Shesh Paul Vaid had warned militants that “they too have families”.

“Militants should realise they too have families. Let them (militants) take this as a warning,” Vaid had said.

“This is between the police and the terrorists, and families should not be brought into this conflict. If the police start doing this (threatening), what will happen to their (militants) families?” the state police chief had stressed.