Suhail A Shah  

A policeman was killed in a militant attack on a police station in Shopian on Sunday.

The killing of the policeman took place nine days after three off-duty unarmed policemen were abducted and later killed by militants in Shopian district.

The policeman killed in the militant attack this morning has been identified as Constable Saqib Mir, a resident of Zavoora village of Shopian district. The attack took place about 6:30 am at the police station in Shopian town.

A senior police official said the militants fired indiscriminately at the police station.

“Alert policemen retaliated the fire duly, repulsing a major attack,” the police official said, adding that one of the policemen sustained grievous wounds in the firing.

The injured police man was evacuated to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. A police source said the militants were burqa-clad and knocked on the police station gates. “The slain constable opened the gate and he was fired upon,” the source said.

Sources maintained that the militants also decamped with the service rifle of the slain policeman but there was no official confirmation about that. Later in the day, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at District Police Lines, Shopian, where senior police officials paid tributes to the slain constable. The constable’s body was taken to his ancestral village in the district, where funeral prayers were held and attended by hundreds.

The slain policeman had joined the Shopian police station only 14 days ago after completing his training in Lethpora. His brother, Wasim Mir, was an SPO and had resigned a few days back.

Meanwhile, the Army claimed to have foiled an infiltration bid in the Tangdhar sector on Saturday evening. The Army said the infiltrators were helped by the Pakistan army which fired at Indian posts. “Our forces retaliated strongly and foiled the infiltration bid being attempted under cover fire by the Pakistan army,” Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said.

Courtesy: The Tribune: 1st Oct, 2018