2 cops killed, 10 injured in J&K’s twin militant attacks

SRINAGAR: Two policemen were killed and ten Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel injured in two separate militant attacks in Pulwama and Anantnag districts of southern Kashmir. The attacks took place at a time when the government is deliberating on possible extension of suspension of combat operations announced for the month of Ramzan.

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti described the incidents as highly reprehensible, saying that the militant attacks had the potential to derail the political process of ceasefire and dialogue. “Such incidents have the potential of depriving them of the gains of peace moves like suspension of security operations and dialogue offer undertaken by the state and central governments recently,” said Mufti. She urged people to guard the positivity generated by the peace moves on the ground which have given them ample relief. In a pre-dawn attack in Pulwama, militants fired at the police post of Pulwama court complex, killing two selection grade constables, Ghulam Rasool and Ghulam Hassan, while another policeman was injured.

Former CM and opposition National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the killers of these police personnel deserved nothing but the eternal flames of hell and that was where they were destined to find themselves. State government spokesman and senior PDP minister Naeem Akhtar drew parallels between the killing of policemen and the lynching of deputy superintendent of police Ayub Pandit, which took place during Ramzan last year.


Akhtar tagged Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and tweeted, “Repeat of shameful lynching of DSP Ayub Pandit, on his anniversary. Perpetrators worst enemies of Kashmir, it’s people, Islam. Stupid to think guns looted after killing humans will arm them enough to fight any successful war. Silence?” In Anantnag, militants hurled a grenade towards CRPF personnel deployed in Janglat Mandi area, where ten personnel received minor injuries.