Srinagar: Two motorcycle-borne Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants opened indiscriminate fire on a security forces party in Nowgam area of the city here on Monday, killing two paramilitary CRPF personnel and injuring three others, police said.
The injured include an assistant sub-inspector of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), they said.
Militants fired upon a security forces party near Kandizal Bridge in Nowgam, Srinagar this afternoon, a police official said.
He said five CRPF personnel, including an ASI, were injured in the firing.
The injured personnel were taken to the Army’s 92 base hospital, where the doctors declared two of them — Constables Shalinder Pratap Singh and Devndra Kumar Tripathi — brought dead, the official said.
He said the other three personnel — ASI Gorakh Nath, Constable Kirgain and Constable James — are undergoing treatment and their condition is stated to be stable.
The militants fled the spot after the attack. Soon after the incident, the area was cordoned off and a manhunt was launched to nab the attackers. Senior officials also rushed to the spot.
Speaking to reporters, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir, Vijay Kumar said the attack was carried out by two LeT militants who have been identified.
“Two militants from Lashkar-e-Toiba came on a motorbike and fired indiscriminately on the CRFP Road Opening Party using AK-47. The forces retaliated and there was heavy cross-firing. The militants were successful in escaping, but we have identified them and will soon neutralise them,” the IGP said.
He said one of the militants has been identified as Saifullah, a Pakistani militant, and the other is a local.
“Saifullah was involved in an attack on CRPF in Chadoora in which an ASI was martyred. He was also involved in firing in Nowgam. This is his third attack and we will neutralise him soon,” Kumar said.
He said that militants find it easy to target security forces on the highway.
“The national highway is a target and a vulnerable place but because many civilian vehicles pass every day, our forces face difficulty in retaliating. If we retaliate and fire indiscriminately too, there will be civilian causalities. So we have to take preventive measures,” the IGP said.
Kumar said the militants were using “guerrilla warfare tactics” to attack the security forces.
“Militants do not announce that they are coming for an attack, they come by concealing their weapons, come close and then fire. They attack like guerrilla warfare, but we have a solution to this and we will soon neutralise them in an encounter,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has condemned the militant attack on Central Reserve Police Force’s personnel here today and promised that the sacrifice of the security personnel will not go in vain.
In his message, the LG said “the sacrifices of our CRPF personnel will not go in vain. The government is determined and committed to foil the design of those who want to disrupt peace and derail the development of Jammu and Kashmir through such a terror attack. I assure the people of Jammu and Kashmir and family members of our brave security personnel that we will punish the perpetrators of such terror attacks.”
The LG prayed for peace to the slain personnel and strength to their family members. He also prayed for the speedy recovery of injured personnel, an official press release said.
