Two policemen were shot dead by militants today in two separate attacks, including one at a police post near the revered Chrar-e-Shareef shrine and another outside the residence of a Hurriyat leader, in the Kashmir Valley on Sunday, officials said.
On Sunday morning, a group of militants attacked a police post near the revered Chrar-e-Shareef shrine in central Kashmir's Budgam district killing a policeman, an official said. The militants fired upon a police post near the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani in the Chrar-e-Shareef area this afternoon, the official said.
The policeman, identified as Kultar Singh, sustained injuries in the firing and was shifted to a hospital where he succumbed to injuries, the official added.
In a second attack of the day, heavily armed gunmen attacked a police guard at the residence of Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi at Bilal Colony, Soura in Srinagar on Sunday. Constable Farooq Ahmad Itoo of Chadoura Budgam was shot dead. The rifle has been snatched away.
Constable Farooq Ahmed was killed in the attack.
The area has been cordoned off and a hunt is on to nab the assailants, the officials said.
Jammu-Kashmir’s DGP Shesh Paul Vaid said, “Pained at the loss of a valued colleague SGCt Kultar Singh JKAP 13 Bn who attained martyrdom in an attack on J&K Police guard for protection of Charari Sharief shrine.”
Pained at the loss of a valued colleague SGCt kultar Singh JKAP 13 Bn who attained martyredom in an attack on J&K Police guard for protection of Charar - e - shareif shrine.
— Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) February 25, 2018
He also expressed his pain at the "martyrdom" of the two policemen.
"Be more careful boys, it’s the proxy war that we are fighting in Jammu & Kashmir," the state's top police official tweeted.
We have lost another precious life when Constable Farooq Ahmad was martyred today in Srinagar. Be more careful boys, it’s the proxy war that we are fighting in Jammu & Kashmir.
— Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) February 25, 2018
(With agency inputs)