New Delhi: A Jammu & Kashmir Police head constable deployed on Amarnath Yatra security duty was killed after suspected militants attacked a police party in the Union territory’s Anantnag town on Wednesday. The attack took place around 12.30pm near Lal Chowk in Anantnag, when the assailants fired at the police team, officials said.
The head constable, identified as Ashiq Hussain, sustained critical injuries in the attack and was rushed to the Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital in Anantnag, but was declared dead on arrival by the doctors.
The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy outfit of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), has claimed responsibility for the attack through a post on social media. Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to trace the assailants.
The situation in the valley remains tense. Only a few days ago, one person was killed and three J&K Police Special Operation Group personnel were injured in Jammu’s Doda district after the man allegedly attempted to snatch a service rifle from the security personnel.
Days earlier, on July 8, security forces killed Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Zakir Ganai in an encounter in Jammu & Kashmir’s Shopian district. The operation was part of a four-day anti-militancy drive launched after intelligence inputs indicated the presence of two LeT militants, including Ganai, in the area.
A search continued for the second militant. Security forces began the search on July 3 in the dense orchard area of Meemandar, which comprises seven villages in south Kashmir.