Militants kill PSO Rameez Raja after attacking BJP leader’s residence in Srinagar
Militants decamped with the slain cop’s rifle, according to local police
A Personal Security Officer (PSO) guarding the residence of a senior BJP leader, Muhammad Anwar Khan, was seriously wounded and later succumbed to his injuries on the way to the hospital when militants attacked the politician’s residence in Aribagh Nowgam area of central Kashmir’s Srinagar district.
According to reports reaching here, militants fired at the guard post outside the residence of the BJP leader after which a policeman sustained grave injuries. Immediately after the attack, the militants fled from the spot and also managed to decamp with the slain cop’s service rifle.
Meanwhile, BJP’s media in-charge Manzoor Bhat identified Anwar Khan as the party’s district president for Baramulla, in-charge Kupwara district and National Executive Member of BJP. He, however, said that Khan is safe as he wasn’t home at the time of the attack.
It is pertinent to mention that this is the second attack on the senior BJP leader Anwar Khan. Earlier, he was attacked in his Medical College in Khonmoh, Srinagar.
Slain cop was expected to wed after Eid-ul-Fitr
The police officer who was killed in the militant attack at Srinagar’s Nowgam neighbourhood on Thursday was due to marry after Eid-ul-Fitr.
A resident of Ara Khashipora in the Dialgam area of Anantnag district, Rameez Raja had joined the Jammu and Kashmir Police five years ago in place of his father, who died of Tumour, according to his relatives.
Rameez Raja was engaged to a girl from the Nowgam area of Shangus in Anantnag, according to one of his relatives, and the couple planned to marry after Eid.
The slain cop is survived by his younger brother Aaqib and Naseema, his widowed mother.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people from his hometown and nearby areas flocked to Ara Khashipora for his funeral prayers. Amid sobs and tears, he was laid to rest in his hometown.
Four LeT militants carried out the attack, IGP Kashmir claims
Inspector General of Police (Kashmir range), Vijay Kumar on Thursday claimed that four Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, including two from Srinagar, carried out the attack on the guard post of the house of senior BJP leader Muhammad Anwar Khan.
While speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the wreath-laying ceremony of slain cop Rameez Raja at DPL Srinagar, the IGP Vijay Kumar said, “After examining the CCTV footage, one Burqa-clad militant knocks the door and when the door is opened, two others fire indiscriminately and the fourth one comes and takes away the riffle.”
IGP added that although the first one, wearing a Burqa, was supposed to be a female, analysis proved that he was a male militant who had changed his voice to deceive the Sentry on duty.
The IGP said two of the four militants involved in the act have been identified as Shahid Khursheed and Obaid Shafi. “Both belong to Lashkar-e-Toiba. The identity of two others is being ascertained who are also believed to be from Lashkar,” he said.
While hinting out to intensify anti-militancy operations, the police chief said that those involved in the act will be “neutralized.”
Admitting the security failure, he said, “We have been conducting searches since January onwards but haven’t been successful in catching the militants who are active in Srinagar city. We will work out on human and technical inputs further and catch them soon.”
Enhance security cover of all prominent BJP leaders in Kashmir, Ashok Koul demands
On Thursday, Ashok Koul, the General Secretary (Organisation) of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), urged the police top brass to conduct a comprehensive security review of all prominent BJP leaders in Kashmir and beef up their security safety.
Koul told the media that IGP Kashmir Vijay Kumar recently acknowledged that there was a security breach in the Sopore incident, in which two Municipal Councilors and a cop were killed.
“An attack on the home of BJP leader Muhammad Anwar Khan resulted in the death of another police officer today. BJP politicians are becoming easy targets, and we’re losing cops as well,” Koul said.
He believes it is high time for the top brass of the police department to conduct a comprehensive security check of all prominent BJP leaders in Kashmir.
“I believe there is a pressing need to beef up the protection of all prominent BJP politicians. Lower-level leaders’ security, which is fragile and under attack, should also be strengthened, according to Koul, in order to save precious lives.
