2 CRPF men killed, 3 injured in terrorist attack in south Kashmir’s Pampore

Two Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and three others injured as terrorists opened fire on a road opening party (ROP) on the Pampore Bypass near Srinagar on Monday afternoon.

Officials said two bike-borne Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants opened fire on personnel of the 110 Battalion of the CRPF stationed on the outskirts of Srinagar.

CRPF spokesperson Junaid Khan said, “Our road opening teams remain deployed on Kandizal Bridge where the attack took place. Five men were injured in the attack, two of them critically. They later succumbed to their injuries.”

The slain CRPF men were identified as head constable Dhirendra Tripathi and constable Shailendra Pratap Singh. The injured were taken to the army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.

Inspector general of police Vijay Kumar said the attack tool place at 12:45pm when the CRPF jawans were on road-opening duty. “Two terrorists on a bike opened indiscriminate fire with an AK-47. Our jawans also retaliated. Our men were injured in the cross firing. However, the attackers managed to escape. We have identified them and they will be neutralised soon,” he said.

The IG said that the attackers were affiliated with LeT outfit. “One of them had come from Pakistan, his name is Saifullah, and the other is a local terrorist. They had earlier attacked CRPF personnel at Chadoora. An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) was killed in the attack. A few days ago they had opened fire in Nowgam sector from a distance. This is their third attack,” he said.

The officer said the National Highway was vulnerable as a lot of traffic kept plying. “Our jawans find it difficult to retaliate because we have to keep in mind the public’s safety,” he said.

Immediately after the attack, security personnel stopped movement of traffic on the highway and launched a massive search operation in the area and in the adjoining areas to trace the attackers.

The IG said that they had come in contact with militants in Tral. “In Tral, there was a gunbattle after militants opened fire, which was retaliated. However, the militants managed to escape. Another operation is taking place at Lam near Sathura,” he said.

At least four attacks have taken place on the highway over the last two months. On September 21, militants had opened fire on CRPF men on the Nowgam-Bypass road. On August 14, two policemen were killed in an attack near Nowgam. In another incident, militants had opened fire on a check post at Pantha chowk, following which the security forces had chased them down and killed three militants in an encounter on August 30.

“Militants are resorting to guerilla warfare,” the IG said. Apart from the highway attacks, a CRPF ASIwas killed when motorcycle-borne militants fired on personnel of the 117 battalion at Chadoora in Budgam on September 24 .