Srinagar, Apr 26: A Shopian resident was killed today in firing by militants on a government forces check point in Anantnag district of south Kashmir, the police said.
The police and CRPF had established a check point at Lazibal in Anantnag on a tip off about movement of militants through the area, a police official said.
He said the government forces signaled a private car to stop for checking but the militants on board opened fire, hitting a civilian.
However, police spokesman, in a statement, said that the militants fired upon the government forces at Lazibal crossing around 2:20 pm, but the fire missed the target and hit a civilian travelling in a taxi.
The injured civilian, identified as Shakeeb Shabir, son of Shabir Ahmad Shah of Kharpora Shopian, suffered a critical bullet injury in the chest.
The 25-year-old man was shifted to the District Hospital Anantnag and subsequently referred to SKIMS Srinagar for specialised treatment “…but he succumbed on way at Bijbehara,” spokesman said.
The spokesman said that the victim’s post-mortem was conducted at Bijbehara and other necessary medico-legal formalities were completed.
“At the site of incident, four empty cartridges were recovered,” he said, adding a massive manhunt is on to trace the car and the assailants.
Meanwhile, as the people in the Shopian town came to know about the death of their native, a number of youth hit the streets, which was followed by a spontaneous shutdown in the town.
Reports said that the youth hurled stones on the government forces deployed in the area and in retaliation the forces fired tear-smoke shells to disperse the protesters.
According to the reports, clashes between forces and protesters started at about 3 pm in Gagran area and in main market of the district. The clashes continued for hours.
In yet another attack, militants on Thursday night lobbed a grenade at a police station in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, leaving two special police officers (SPOs) and a civilian injured.
An official said that the grenade was lobbed at the police station which exploded with a bang.
“A grenade incident is reported from Kulgam…. 2 police officials and a civilian injured. Information is preliminary in nature,” police said on Twitter.
A police spokesman said the injured cops – Sajad Ahmad and Azad Ahmad – and the civilian, identified as Mohammad Akbar Ganie, were shifted to District Hospital Kulgam for treatment.
The police official said that forces have cordoned off the area to nab the assailants.
