5 cops, 2 pvt guards killed as ultras attack cash van

Five policemen and two guards from a private company were killed when militants mounted a deadly attack on a cash van of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in southern Kulgam district on Monday.

Sources said a group of five to six heavily armed militants, disguised in army uniforms, had laid a naka (trap) near Pombai village of Kulgam, 78 km from here. The cash van reached the spot around 3.25 pm when it was attacked.

 “Before the policemen could gauge the situation, the militants started firing indiscriminately on the van, killing five policemen and two private security guards. However, the driver of the van escaped miraculously,” they said.

The militants, they said, fled with four INSAS rifles and one AK 47 rifle of the slain cops. “The militants had information about the police party carrying weapons coming in the cash van,” they said.

The van was returning after depositing cash at one of its branches. 

The attack took place on a day when newly appointed Chief Secretary B B Vyas, along with State police chief and high profile officers chaired a meeting in Anantnag and Kulgam districts.

J&K Bank Chest Officer, Kulgam, Muhammad Ayub said that no cash was looted from the van as it had already deposited it at Manzgam branch and was returning to Kulgam. Deputy Inspector General of Police (South Kashmir range) S P Pani said that it was a group of about half a dozen militants, led by Hizbul commander Omar, which attacked the police.

Indigenous militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. A local news agency, CNS, quoting Burhanuddin, spokesperson of Hizbul, said the attack was carried out by “a special squad” of the outfit, who besides inflicting casualties also snatched four service rifles from the policemen.

In the last three years, south Kashmir districts of Kulgam, Anantnag, Shopian and Pulwama have become the hub of militant activities, where large armed groups roam the countryside unchecked.

Policemen have been targeted frequently and robbed of their weapons while Kashmir has witnessed a surge in bank looting cases ever since demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 was announced on November 8 last year.

But it is for the first time that bank guards and policemen escorting them in a cash van have been targeted. The attack took place on a day Pakistan army, in an act of extreme provocation, mutilated the bodies of two Indian soldiers killed in firing at the Line of Control in Poonch district.

Commenting on the spiralling violence in the state, former Chief Minister and Opposition National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Terrible 24 hours in J&K. 2 soldiers killed & mutilated near the LoC. 5 policemen & 2 bank employees shot in a robbery bid in South Kashmir (sic).”