AGENCIES / Srinagar
Two policemen and 2 civilians were killed and at least 7 others injured on Saturday when militants opened fire targeting security forces in Sopore town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Police blamed the Lashkar-e-Toiba for the attack
Militants fired upon a joint party of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and police near Main Chowk Sopore in north Kashmir district around noon, they said.
The officials said in the firing, two police personnel whom Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police Dilbag Singh later identified as constables Waseem and Showkat, and two civilians were killed.
Seven others—four policemen and two civilians—were injured in the attack, Dilbag Singh said on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony for the two slain police constables. He said it was a Sopore police station team on Covid-19 duty that came under attack.
Even as they mounted a retaliation, four police personnel and three civilians were injured, the DGP said.
Constables Waseem and Showkat succumbed to injuries later, while Sub-Inspector Mukesh Kumar and SPO Danish are undergoing treatment, and their condition is stated to be stable, he said.
Two of the three civilians injured in the attack died too, the police chief said.
He said initial indicators have led to the identification of the outfit, and a follow-up on that is on.
“The forces have launched an operation in the area, and we are hopeful that we will soon bring to justice the perpetrators of the crime… As per our information, LeT is involved in it, and we have almost identified the militants in the attack, but we will not share their details yet,” the DGP said.