A police official was shot dead by unidentified gunmen near the Bagyaz police station in Srinagar on Friday.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Suchpal Singh was shot from close range, a senior police official said. “The injured ASI was removed to the SMHS hospital where doctors tried their best to revive him, but he died of gunshot wounds,” the official said.
No separatist group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Earlier in the day, an over two-decade bunker of the Central Reserve Police Force was removed from Lal Chowk. Local residents and shopkeepers had long been demanding the removal of the bunker.
Separatist guerrillas had attacked the bunker over a dozen times. Its presence had made pedestrians and shopkeepers vulnerable to being caught in gunfights between the security forces and the guerrillas.
“So far, we have removed 40 bunkers from different places and the process will continue as the situation improves,” Minister of State for Home Nasir Aslam Wani said.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has been eagerly pursuing the cause for reducing the presence of security forces in the State.
He is also advocating revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) from four districts of Srinagar, Badgam, Jammu and Samba.
Senior army officials maintain that a kneejerk response to the sensitive AFSPA issue would be fraught with serious risks as long as peace is not consolidated.
