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Two policemen killed in militant attack in J&K’s Srinagar

The attack in the Bhagat-e-Barzulla area of Srinagar was captured on a CCTV camera.

Srinagar, J&K

Two policemen were killed after being fired upon by a militant in the Bhagat-e-Barzulla area of Srinagar city here on Friday.

The slain policemen were identified as Sohail Ahmad and Mohammad Yousuf. Sohail died at SMHS Hospital where he was admitted there in a critical condition. While policeman Yousuf succumbed to his bullet wounds at a Police hospital here.

Meanwhile, a CCTV footage of the incident was released, which shows a militant opening fire on the policemen who were standing on a shop front.

CCTV footage of militant attack on policemen in J&K’s Srinagar

Later, Police arrested a suspected youth near the attack site in Baghat-e-Barzulla area while the family of the youth Mudasir Ahmad vouched for his innocence, saying that he is suffering from mental illness.

Although, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir Zone, K. Vijay Kumar on the sidelines of a wreath laying ceremony of two slain cops, said that no one has been arrested, adding that a suspected youth has been held only for questioning purposes.

Family members of the arrested youth have pleaded for his innocence, saying that he is suffering from mental illness from past couple of years.

They said Mudasir Ahmad, a Class 12th student, after having lunch at his home was venturing out when he was arrested, adding that he is also a drug addict.

They appealed top police officials to intervene into the matter and release their kin as soon as possible.

In another such attack in Sonwar area of Srinagar on February 17, son of a eatery (Krishna Dhaba) owner was seriously injured.

However, Police on Friday claimed to have arrested the three youth, who were involved in the attack.

“On (Wednesday) night, there was an attack outside a Dhaba (eatery) as a result of which there was fear across the country, especially among tourists. The militants wanted to show that they can carry out an attack in a safe area. On the day, police and security forces had taken foreign envoys to Budgam and the function went off peacefully there. We brought them back to the hotel. In the evening, there was an attack by three bike-borne youths,” Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir Zone, told reporters here.

“Two of them went to the counter of Krishna Dhaba and took out a pistol and fired upon at the (son of the Dhaba owner) as a result of which he was injured. They later escaped. The area is frequented by tourists and even during Hartal (strike), the area remains open,” he said, adding, “Police with the help of CCTV footage identified the youth. Parents were brought to police station and told that their son carried out the attack and left.”

With the help of parents, he said, “we kept their phone on surveillance and two militants, who had probably joined the militant ranks, closed the phone near Pampore. Then, one of them called their family from the phone of a Phari labourer and said that I am going to Pahalgam. A police party went there and arrested them from the spot.”

On the spot, he said, they were interrogated and they disclosed that the name of another one, a resident of Pulwama who was later arrested. “They confessed to have carried out the attack. We also recovered the pistol used in the commission of offence as also confiscated the bike used,” he added.

He said that the trio was instructed to carry out the attack by south Kashmir based LeT militants “Janbaz Foji” in wake of the foreign delegates visit.

He said the case under IPC Section 307 has been was registered. “The police cracked the case within 24 hours,” he said.

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Aasif Ganaie

Aasif is a journalist and a news enthusiast based in Jammu & Kashmir. He voyages to explore and uncover the stories More »

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