A CRPF inspector was killed after terrorists attacked joint party of the force and SOG of J&K Police in Udhampur district
A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) inspector was killed after terrorists attacked a joint party of the force and Special Operations Group (SOG) of Jammu and Kashmir Police in Udhampur district on Monday, officials said.
As per the PTI report, the CRPF along with the Special Operations Group (SOG) was fired upon by the terrorists at around 3:30 pm in the remote Dudu area of Basantgarh. Kuldeep Singh, an inspector of the CRPF’s 187th battalion, was hit by a bullet and later succumbed to his injuries while being taken to the hospital, officials said.
The terrorists fled the scene in the face of strong retaliation by the joint patrolling party, the officials said, adding reinforcements have been rushed to the scene and a search operation has been launched to track down and neutralise the terrorists, PTI added.
The terror attack comes at a time when Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing its first assembly election as a Union territory. The erstwhile state of J&K had last conducted an assembly election in 2014.
After delimitation, there are a total of 90 assembly constituencies in J&K, of which 74 constituencies are for general categories, nine are reserved for scheduled tribes, and seven are reserved for scheduled castes.
The polling in the union territory will be held in three phases on September 18, 25, and October 1. The counting of the votes will take place on October 4.
The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has said it will provide security to the Election Commission of India with all the forces the poll body needs to conduct the upcoming assembly elections.
Currently there are about 70 battalions (about 70,000 personnel) of central paramilitary forces permanently deployed in J&K to deal with insurgency and law and order issues. Besides, the Border Security Force (BSF) and army are responsible for maintaining vigil at the border.
Around 500 companies (50,000 personnel) of paramilitary forces sent to the Valley for the Amarnath Yatra may be asked to stay there for election duty as well.
