A police officer and a civilian were shot dead in Kashmir on Wednesday, in two separate incidents as the Valley sees a surge in militant attacks, as told by officials. Police said Assistant Sub Inspector, Mohammad Ashraf was shot at Bijbehara town of south Kashmir’s Anantnag. The officer, a resident of Awantipora in Pulwama district, was critically injured and shifted to a hospital in Sri Nagar where he died. In another attack, terrorists shot dead a civilian, Rouf Ahmad, outside his residence at Safakdal in downtown Srinagar. He was rushed to the hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
According to official records, 41 security personnel were killed in J&K this year, 21 of whom were policemen. In the Valley, where 28 security personnel died in terrorist attacks, 20 belonged to the J&K police. On December 13, terrorists fired on a police bus at Zewan in the outskirts of Srinagar city, killing three police personnel and wounding 11. The attack came just three days after terrorists attacked a police party in Bandipore and killed two police personnel.
While J&K Police have been the main targets of terrorists in Kashmir, attacks on civilians have also intensified since October this year, especially in Srinagar city. In a string of terrorist attacks early October, seven civilians were killed in Srinagar, most of them from the Hindu minority. The Centre had informed Parliament on November 30 that 40 civilians have been killed and 72 injured in J&K in terror-related incidents till November 15 this year.
The attacks forced the J&K administration to shunt out the Srinagar police chief, Sandeep Choudhary, and replace him with Rakesh Balwal, an IPS officer who earlier worked with the NIA.
