Policeman, his wife, daughter shot dead by militants in J&K’s Pulwama

A policeman, his wife and daughter were killed when militants fired upon them at their residence in Hariparigam, Awantipora area, of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Sunday night.

A police officer said militants forced their entry into the residence of special police officer (SPO) Fayaz Ahmad and fired indiscriminately. Ahmad, his wife Raja Begum and their daughter Rafia received bullet injuries in the attack and were immediately removed to a nearby healthcare facility, where the cop was declared dead on arrival.

His wife and daughter were shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag. However, both succumbed to their injuries in the hospital.

Reports said soon after the attack, the area was cordoned off and searches were launched to nab the assailants.

SPOs are recruited by the J&K police on a fixed monthly remuneration of Rs 12,000. The wages of SPOs are given by the J&K government and reimbursed by the Centre under the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) scheme. The police maintain SPOs are an important element in their strategy to combat militancy.

The 30,000 men and women SPOs - bolstering the police force with duties ranging from fighting militancy to maintaining law and order - have been targeted specifically by militants in the last few years.

Earlier this month, militants killed two off-duty policemen in Srinagar in two separate attacks, including an officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).