Constable, civilian killed in Sopore shrine shootout

Ahmed Ali Fayyaz

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SRINAGAR, Aug 18: Unidentified gunmen, widely suspected to be militants, shot dead and disarmed a Constable of an armed wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police in a broad daylight shootout outside a shrine in which a physically handicapped civilian also lost his life on Tuesday.

Director General of Police, K. Rajendra Kumar, told STATE TIMES that Constable Fayaz Ahmad of Indian Reserve Police 13^th battalion, who was a resident of the nearby Wadora village, was on duty outside the shrine of Sheikh Baba Ali Raina---older brother of the 16^th century revered cleric-saint Sultanul Aarifeen Sheikh Hamza Makhdoom, at Tujjar Sharief, 10 Km from Sopore on the road to Kupwara, when two motorcycle-born unidentified youths stopped and opened fire from an AK-47 rifle at 1.00 pm.

The single AK-47 shot pierced through the abdomen of the targeted Policeman and hit a physically handicapped Abdul Rahim Lone of Tujjar. Both of them succumbed to injuries when they were being evacuated to a local hospital. Sixty-year-old Lone used to move around in his wheelchair to collect donations for the shrine.

Police have recovered one AK-47 empty from the spot.

DGP said that the assailants disarmed the targeted Constable and decamped with his Insas rifle. He said that Police have registered a case and started search for the assailants in coordination with security forces.

“It was a guard of five Police personnel there. While Fayaz was on duty outside, his colleagues were inside. By the time they came out, the assailants had vanished into the neighbourhood”, DGP said. Asked if Police or security forces had any clue with regard to the organisational affiliation of the assailants, Rajendra said: “As of now, we have absolutely no clue. We are investigating”.

As of late on Tuesday night, there was no claim of responsibility. Several residents, however, suspected it as the handiwork of a breakaway group of Hizbul Mujahideen, led by the dreaded militant Qayyum Najar and they did not come out with any protest.

Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed and the Peoples’ Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti condemned the two killings and said in separately issued statement that violence was unacceptable as it had no room in a civilised society.

In his condolence message, Mufti Sayeed said those responsible for such dastardly acts had no respect for human lives. He said spilling blood of innocent persons unravels untold miseries upon the families of the victims. “There is no religion in the world which allows or justifies such inhuman acts where people are gunned down mercilessly in such cruel manner,” he stated. Chief Minister sent his condolences to both the bereaved families.

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