While unidentified militants looted five more service rifles from police guards in South Kashmir, the Jammu & Kashmir police announced a cash reward of Rs10 lakh for information about a top-ranking Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist suspected to be involved in killing of seven persons including five policemen and two private bank guards in Kulgam on Monday.
Shortly after the attack, Inspector general of Police (Kashmir range) Javed Gilani had claimed that Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist Umar Majid, a resident of Kulgam area, was behind the attack on a bank van that led to the killing of seven people. The militants looted four INSAS rifles from the slain personnel.
Posters of Majid were pasted on several walls in Sothern district headquarters of Kulgam announcing the cash reward that may lead the security agencies to nab him, police said.
The police said 22-year-old Majid, who hails from Sooch village of Kulgam district, was identified by cops with the help of some locals. The driver of the bank van has also identified the attacker, police said. Sources said Majid has been spoted in several videos of militants making rounds on internet. He is wanted by the police in several militant activities.
Meanwhile, in another incident of weapon looting, terrorists snatched five rifles from police guards posted at the Shopian district court complex in south Kashmir. The militants attacked the guard room of the court complex around 9 pm and snatched five self-loading rifles (SlRs) from the policemen posted there. All the five policemen were suspended for the alleged dereliction of duty as they offered no resistance when the terrorists looted their weapons, they said. Following the snatching incident, an alert was sounded in the district.
Meanwhile, terrorists on Wednesday targeted two banks in south Kashmir's Pulwama district within a span of two hours and decamped with several lakh rupees. In first incident, gunmen looted a bank in Wahibugh village of Pulwama district. The police sources said that three masked men carrying guns barged inside the Ellaquai Dehati Bank Wahibugh and looted around Rs5 lakh. The gunmen also entered Jammu Kashmir Bank branch in Nehama Kakapor area and looted cash at gun point. Reports said that gunmen looted Rs1,30,000.