Four people, including a policeman and his wife and daughter, were killed in two separate militancy-related incidents in Kashmir on Monday.
“There was a movement of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) militants in the area. It seems that two foreign militants have carried out the attack. The militants first fired at the Special Police Officer Fayaz Ahmed and his wife and daughter tried to save him. They too were fired upon,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.
While the policeman and his wife, Raja Begum, died on Sunday night, the daughter, Rafia Akhtar, succumbed to her injuries on Monday morning at a Srinagar hospital. The victims were home when the militants barged in and opened indiscriminate fire around 10:30 p.m. at Hari Parigam village of Pulwama.
Earlier this month, two off-duty policemen were killed in Srinagar by suspected militants, including an inspector of the police's Crime Investigation Department.
Most of the political parties including, J&K Apni Party, National Conference, Peoples Conference and CPI(M) and Peoples Democratic Party, condemned the attack.
“Killing of unarmed civilians cannot be justified in any way,” CPI(M) leader M.Y. Tarigami said.
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said no words are strong enough to condemn the cowardly attack on the policemen and his family.
“I unreservedly condemn the dastardly and cowardly attack,” NC's Omar Abdullah said.
Meanwhile, one unidentified militant was killed in an encounter between militants and security forces on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday. A top commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was also arrested in the city earlier in the day.
A police official said one militant has been killed and another may be still hiding in Srinagar's Maloora area. “The operation is on,” the police said.
Earlier in the day, LeT commander Nadeem Abrar was arrested in the area close to the encounter site. “Abrar was involved in several killings. His arrest is a big success for us,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said.
Initial reports suggested that Abrar was travelling in a car when he was arrested near Parimpora, which is in close vicinity of Maloora.
The police and the CRPF have said no body of a militant has been recovered at the encounter site at Maloora.
“The firing is on. We cannot confirm any casualty. They are holed up inside a concrete house. The operation is on to flush them out,” officials said.
