Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar on Tuesday said the situation in Kashmir Valley was under control even as he rejected as untrue reports alluding to the snatching of weapons from CRPF men following Monday’s fatal attack along Jammu-Srinagar highway near Pampore in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Two CRPF personnel were killed and three others including an Assistant Sub Inspector of the paramilitary’s 110 battalion were injured in a broad daylight attack by two bike-borne militants near Tangan Bypass before escaping from the spot.
“The CRPF (personnel) were on ROP duty. At 12: 40 p.m. militants came, most probably from Pampore, on a bike and fired indiscriminately, leading to the killing of two (personnel) and injuries to three others who are stable and are still in hospital,” the top police officer of Kashmir told reporters on the sidelines of a wreath laying ceremony of the two slain CRPF men— constables Shailendra Singh and Dhirendra Tripathi (driver).
The police officer reiterated that the militants have been identified with “one being a Pakistani, Saifullah and other a local.”
The militant group had carried out a similar attack in Chadoora in which one ASI was killed, the IGP said. “Some days back he carried an attack from some distance in Nowgam. This is his (Saifullah’s) third attack.”
Responding to a query that “some reports suggest that militants snatched weapons before successfully escaping from the spot,” the IGP said: “There is no truth in it.”
To a query that bike-borne attacks are getting increasingly resorted to by the militants, the IGP said: “As you know, whether it is national highway or link road, many vehicles ply.
Sometimes it is easier for militants to ride a bike. We cannot check every vehicle given the fact that there can be traffic jams. There is no need to panic. The situation is under control. We will neutralize them soon.”
To a question on the use of virtual numbers by militants, Kumar said that it is challenging. “Virtual number has remained challenging since the beginning. It is challenging across world. We are trying to find technological answers,” he said. (GNS)
