Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were martyred in a surprise attack on their convoy by lashkar-e-Tayyeba (leT) militants in Srinagar on Saturday. A Deputy Commandant among nine sustained injuries.
later a civilian was killed when the terrorists took position in a Government building and opened fire in the highway town of Pampore on the outskirts of Srinagar.
Till going to press, three suspected leT militants were holed up in a building where around hundred civilians, including Government employees and students, were trapped for a few hours before being evacuated amid a heavy exchange of fire.
There are conflicting reports whether this is a fidayeen (suicide) attack or the terrorists took position in the building after targeting the CRPF convoy on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.
Significantly, news channels were directed not to telecast the operation live, apparently against the backdrop of the charged-up atmosphere due to the ongoing JNU row in the country.
Sources said the encounter began at around 3:30 pm when the leT militants attacked a CRPF convoy with grenades and opened fire at Sempora, around 10 km south of Srinagar, near the saffron-rich town of Pampore.
The attackers later took positions in the Entrepreneurship Development Institute (EDI) building that was full of civilians and Government employees at that time.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Ghulam Hassan Bhat said, “All civilians including EDI employees, civilians and students trapped inside the campus were evacuated amid a heavy exchange of fire. Three militants are believed to be holed up there.”
A stray bullet hit a gardener Abdul Gani Mir, who was rushed to hospital but succumbed to his injuries later in the evening.
CRPF spokesman Bhavesh Choudhary said three CRPF personnel were killed in the attack. A CRPF driver Head Constable RK Rana was killed on the spot while Head Constable Bhola Singh and a CRPF jawan succumbed to their injuries later. Nine CRPF personnel wounded in the attack are admitted to the Army’s Base Hospital in Srinagar.
Senior police and CRPF officers rushed to the spot to oversee the operation. News of intermittent firing was coming in till the filing of this report. Sources said the area is likely to remain besieged throughout the night and a pre-dawn operation would be launched against the terrorists who are still holed up.
No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack but sources said that a fidayeen group of the leT, comprising two to three militants is involved in the attack.
The authorities diverted the traffic on the highway, which generally witnesses huge traffic density on Saturday afternoons.