4 CRPF men, 4 cops and two militants killed in J-K’s Pulwama; Jaish-e-Mohammed claims attack

A three-member fidayeen group attacked the police lines in Pulwama at dawn.

INDIA Updated: Aug 27, 2017 00:32 ISTAbhishek Saha 
Hindustan Times, SrinagarIndian Army soldiers take position near the site of the gunfight at the district police lines in Pulwama, about 30km south of Srinagar.(Waseem Andrabi/HT Photo)

Militants killed four policemen and an equal number of paramilitary troopers in a pre-dawn attack on a police complex with residential buildings in southern Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Saturday, triggering a gunfight that continued through the day.

Sources said two militants were gunned down but more could be holed up in a building the group stormed after getting into the guarded compound, 30km south of Srinagar.

A CRPF spokesperson in Srinagar said head constable Ravindra Baban Dhanawade of Maharashtra and constable Jaswant Singh of Haryana died from wounds.

The other two who died were constable Dinesh Deepak from Gujarat, and constable Mohammad Yasin Teli from Baramulla district in north Kashmir.

The paramilitary men were assisting Jammu and Kashmir policemen after at least three gunmen entered the camp detonating grenades and firing automatic assault rifles.

The J&K policemen killed in the shootout were Imtiyaz Ahmad, Mohammad Yousuf Hajam, Rafiq Ahmad Hajam and Amarjeet Singh.

Director general of police SP Vaid said police and paramilitary troopers responded to the attack while a reinforcement of army soldiers encircled the camp.

All the families in the compound were evacuated and the militants had taken no hostages.

Indian Army soldiers take position near the site of the gunfight at the district police lines in Pulwama, some 30km south of Srinagar. (HT Photo / Waseem Andrabi)

After the initial attack, the militants entered a building and they were cornered. The firing stopped towards evening and two special police officers (SPOs) trapped inside the house were found dead.

Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. The group’s spokesperson, Hasan Shah, told local news agency CNS about the raid and casualties.

As the fighting raged, hundreds of residents, mostly young men, hit the streets in Pulwama and chanted pro-militant slogans.

Government forces fired tear gas, resulting in clashes with protesters, who hurled back rocks at the troops. No one was immediately reported wounded in the clashes.

Indian Army soldiers near the site of the gunfight at the district police lines in Pulwama, some 30km south of Srinagar. (HT Photo / Waseem Andrabi)

Mobile internet services were suspended temporarily in the district to prevent residents from organising anti-India protests as a tactic to help the militants escape.

In recent months, residents, sometimes entire villages, have increasingly hit the streets and thrown stones at soldiers when rebels are trapped in military cordons.

South Kashmir, the hub of the Valley’s new-age militancy, has been recording a spate of gunfights between security forces and militants.

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CRPF jawans Dhanawade Ravindra and Jaswant Singh who lost their lives in #Pulwama encounter today.

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Government forces have stepped up counter-insurgency operations since the start of the year and have killed at least 136 rebels, including most of the top commanders of rebel groups operating in the region.

In New Delhi, Union home minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in the state with national security adviser Ajit Doval, home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and top bureaucrats.

Singh expressed his condolences to the families of the CRPF soldiers and Jammu and Kashmir policemen killed in the Pulwama attack. He wished the wounded men a speedy recovery.