On Saturday evening, when militants carried out an attack in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district despite beefed-up security ahead of Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit, it left Constable Imtiyaz Ahmad dead.
Constable Imtiyaz became the seventh policeman in the past fortnight who was gunned down by militants.
This year, the J&K Police have lost 25 policemen — highest in over a decade. In June, eight policemen were killed — the highest in a month.
After a relative lull in attacks on the police for nearly two months after June, militants have again stepped up attack on policemen, especially in south Kashmir.
On August 26, Jaish-e-Mohammed militants, who in the past have targeted Army installations close to the Line of Control, launched a fidayeen attack on District Police Lines in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
In the fierce gunfight which followed, eight security men, including four policemen — Constable Imtiyaz Ahmad Sheikh, Special Police Officers Mohammad Yousuf Hajam and Mohammad Rafiq Hajam and nursing orderly Amarjit Singh — were killed. Of them, two policemen were taken “hostages and later killed by the fidayeen.”
Two days later, militants shot dead Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Abdul Rashid Shah in Anantnag while he was regulating traffic.
Sub-Inspector of Police Gowhar Ahmad Malla was lucky to survive when militants fired at him in Shopian district of south Kashmir on August 31.
On September 1, Lashkar-e-Toiba militants ambushed a vehicle of the Armed Police wing of the J&K Police at Zeewan on the outskirts of Srinagar, leaving policeman Krishan Chand dead and four others wounded. The ambush on the outskirts of Srinagar took place on the eve of Eid-ul-Azha despite inputs about possible militant attacks.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Anantnag, Altaf Khan said the morale of the force was high. “This (attacks on policemen) is terrorism. We will fight it out. Our morale is very high,” said the Anantnag SSP. “We will sort them one by one till peace returns to Kashmir.”
Militants step up attack, 7 Cops killed in 15 days
