Srinagar: Police on Wednesday said that terrorists shot at and injured two Forest Department employees in the Pulwama district of south Kashmir. One of them later succumbed to injuries.
A police spokesperson said the force was informed that “terrorists had fired upon a team of forest department employees” who had laid a checkpoint to apprehend timber smugglers near Bangender Bridge in the south Kashmir district.
“Senior police officers reached the spot with additional reinforcement to ascertain the facts,” he said.
The injured — Imran Yousaf Wani, son of Mohammad Yousuf Wani, resident of Mohnu, Chararisherif, and Jahangir Ahmed Chechi (Forester), son of Ghulam Mohiudin Chechi, resident of Gogjipather, Chadoora — were taken to a hospital.
While Wani, who received a bullet injury on his thigh, was later shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for specialised treatment, Chechi had superficial injuries and was discharged after first-aid, the police spokesperson said. However, later in the day in an updated press release, police informed that Wani, who had suffered a bullet injury in the thigh, succumbed to injuries at the Srinagar hospital.
A case (FIR No. 79/2023 under sections 16, 20 UAP (Act), 307 IPC and 7/27 IA Act) has been registered and an investigation is underway, police spokesperson said.
He said soon after the incident, the whole area was cordoned off by security forces and an intensive search was launched. Two empty cartridges of AK 47 and a bullet head have been seized, the spokesperson said, adding the search operation was going on.
