Less than one week after the Inspector General of Police, Kashmir Range, claimed that only one local terrorist was active in the valley, unidentified terrorists on Wednesday targeted a check post near a security camp, injuring three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, one of them critically, near Akhran-Napora village in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district.
CCTV footage of the firing incident, which went viral on various social media platforms, revealed the attack took place around 2.06 p.m.
This is the third incident of terrorist violence in South Kashmir since July this year. A police head constable, deployed on Amarnath yatra duty, was killed at close range in the busy market area of Anantnag on July 22. Two non-local labourers from Chhattisgarh were killed in discriminatory firing on July 31 in the Kulgam area.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was also present in Kulgam, where he inaugurated the Veshow Festival on the premises of Government Degree College.
The CRPF personnel on duty retaliated and also rushed Quick Reaction Teams (QRT) to contain the terrorists. Still, they managed to flee the area, possibly with the help of local overground workers. Three CRPF personnel of 46 Battalion were injured in the attack and rushed to the Government Medical College, Anantnag. One of the critically injured CRPF jawans was later shifted to 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar for advanced medical treatment along with two others, whose condition was stated to be stable.
The injured jawans have been identified as CT/GD Rakesh Dass, son of Arun Dass, resident of Assam, CT/GD Santosh Chandru, son of Mahavir, resident of West Bengal and HC/GD Somveer Singh, son of Mahaveer, resident of Madhya Pradesh.
In Kulgam, a joint team of security forces cordoned off the entire area and launched massive searches to track down the whereabouts of the terrorists. School-going children were escorted to safer places as additional troops were deployed to plug the gaps and intensify the searches in the nearby areas. The security forces were also put on high alert across different parts of the Kashmir Valley, and random checkpoints were activated along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway amid heightened alert.
A team from the District Mobile Forensic Unit (DMFU), FSL J&K, visited the site of the Kulgam terror attack and collected samples and other material evidence to assist investigators in reconstructing the sequence of events. Meanwhile, a fresh search was launched by the Jammu and Kashmir Police last week to nab Kashmir’s lone surviving local terrorist, Abdul Latief Bhat alias Mohammad Lateef Bhat, along with three other wanted terrorists. Posters were released by the police and pasted on walls in different parts of Srinagar, urging the people of Srinagar to help hunt him down.
A hardened Lashkar-e-Taiba operative, Bhat is accused of orchestrating the killing of a police officer in Anantnag and targeting migrant workers in July 2026. Police had earlier announced a cash reward of Rs 15 lakh for information leading to his arrest. The banner also carries the photographs and details of three other wanted terrorists, all believed to be operating from across the border. They have been identified as Bilal Ahmad Mir, Mohammad Umar Mir and Abid Qayoom Lone, all hailing from Baramulla district in North Kashmir and currently believed to be operating from Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).