Militants kill two policemen in Kashmir

Militants on Saturday shot dead two police constables in the Handwara town of north Kashmir’s frontier district Kupwara.

Police said two to three pistol-borne militants shot the policemen from point-blank range near Handwara bus stand, 75 km from here,  around 11 am.

“The two constables belonging to the Indian Reserve Police (IRP) were fired from a point-blank range. They were shifted to hospital in a critical condition, where they died,” a police spokesperson said. He identified the deceased policemen as Santosh Singh, 26, and Azad Chand, 27 both attached with the IRP 16th battalion. Both of them joined the police force in 2009, he added.

Handwara Superintendent Police Mohammad Aslam told Deccan Herald that investigation “is on. At this moment I can’t see which militant organisation is involved in the killings. So far, we have got no clue.”Sources said the militants were highly trained and fired only two bullets at the cops. “The bullets pierced through their head,” they added.

Soon after the incident, the area was cordoned off and searches were launched. Senior police and paramilitary officers rushed to the town to take stock of the situation. Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, a nearly defunct militant outfit, has claimed responsibility for the attack. The spokesperson of the outfit, identifying himself as Jameel Ahmad, claimed in a statement to a local news agency that it carried the attack to avenge the harassment of local youth by the J&K Police.

This was the first attack on police in the last eight months. In July 2012, militants had killed a policeman in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district. Last week, militants had killed a panchayat member in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

Kashmir range Inspector General of Police S M Sahai said police were active and alert. “We’re serving the nation and we have to perform our responsibilities. These are sacrifices, ” he added.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah condemned the killing and described it as an act of cowardice.