Butcher’s knife struck on cop’s head in SHO’s presence

Militants loot 5 cops’ weapons to ridicule Police protection to staying back KPs

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

SRINAGAR, Feb 17: While militants have looted five automatic guns of the Police guards “protecting” a cluster of the staying back Kashmiri Pandit families in Tral area of Pulwama district, non-militant “resistance heroes” today struck a butcher’s knife on the head of a Constable in presence of the Station House Officer (SHO) in Batmaloo area of the capital city. This kind of an attack on Police has come after facing stone pelting from unruly mobs in Kashmir valley for over a year.

Eyewitnesses and informed sources told Early Times that a bearded youth of 25 to 30 years of age took out a butcher’s knife and struck it from behind on the head of Constable Bilal Ahmed Najar in presence of SHO Batmaloo, Inspector Zahoor Ahmed, when a Police party had begun to clear some space of the illegally parked Tata Sumo passenger service carriages at General Bus Stand of Batmaloo, at 1130 hours today. According to these sources, SHO Zahoor and four to five of his PSOs and escort personnel, each of them armed with AK-47 rifles, had launched the clear-out on the directions of senior Police and civil officials. They had deflated two of the parked Tata Sumos and were directing others to vacate.

Sources said that the youth, who attacked the armed Constable with the obvious aim of halving his head, missed the target and his heavy knife struck the victim’s ear and shoulder. The assailant escaped after Constable Bilal collapsed and his armed colleagues snatched away his knife. Later, the Police party evacuated their critically wounded Constable and rushed him to SKIMS for medical treatment. Officials at SKIMS said that Constable Bilal, a resident of Zaloora village in Pulwama district, was discharged from the hospital after receiving a surgical and medical procedure. They said that he had a providential escape as the heavy knife struck on his head appeared to have missed the real target.

Police have arrested two persons from the spot who claimed to have no knowledge about the assailant but said that they could recognize him. A senior official said that Police had taken today’s attack with a challenge and the assailant’s sketch was being drawn on the description given by the eyewitnesses. Sources said that Police also questioned a vendor selling knives of large size at General Bus Stand Batmoo. During the course of his sustained interrogation, he claimed not to have sold any of such weapons today. However, he later revealed that on Tuesday two bearded youth had purchased identical knives from him, yards away from today’s site of attack on the Constable.

Even as Police and paramilitary personnel have been attacked with pistols in point blank range nearly six times in the last eight months, this is for the first time that such kind of an audacious attack has been carried out in the capital city that too in broad daylight and in front of the SHO concerned. Officials confirmed that no action had been initiated against the SHO. They said that three to four armed attacks have happened on this crowded spot near General Bus Stand of Batmaloo in the last three months.

“We have registered a case, started the investigation and also launched a manhunt for the assailant”, SSP Srinagar, Javed Reyaz Bedar said. He claimed that Police had laid hands on certain clues and a breakthrough was very much possible in a couple of days.

Coinciding with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s presence in the summer capital in connection with review meeting of District Development Board Budgam as also Union Home Minister P Chidambarm’s day-long visit to Jammu, today’s attack on Police with a butcher’s knife at Taxi Stand No: 4 Batmaloo can potentially demoralize the Police force in absence of necessary remedial measures and statements of reassurance from top echelons of the coalition government. Around the same time, suspected militants have attacked a Police party and looted five automatic guns of the “guards” posted for protection of a cluster of the families of staying back Kashmiri pandits at Midora in Tral area of Pulwama district.

SP Awantipore, Bashir Ahmed Khan, told Early Times that late last night, five to eight armed persons, believed to be militants, overpowered five Police guards deployed at minority picket Midora in Tral area. Quoting the guards, SP Awantipore said that the militants looted two SLRs and three INSAS rifles from the five-personnel static guard of District Police Awantipore. Those relieved of their service rifles included a head constable, who headed the unit, two Constables and two SPOs. Mr Khan said that after looting the weapons, militants withdrew from the village without harming five or six Kashmiri Pandit families who have stayed back and refused to leave the Valley during the mass migration of the minority community in 1989-90.

SP Awantipore said that placed all the five personnel under suspension, got them detained, registered an FIR of attacking the Police party and looting of five rifles. He said that a departmental inquiry was underway and it was being ascertained as to why the guards did not resist or retaliate and how they had been relieved of their weapons. Again, looting of weapons of a Police party has happened in Kashmir valley after a long pause of normality. Over 30 of such incidents have been reported in 20 years of Kashmir militancy since 1990 and the last one had happened several years back.

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