CRPF officer killed, 2 injured in Lashkar attack in Srinagar

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 24

An officer of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed and two jawans were injured in a militant ambush at Srinagar outskirts along Srinagar-Jammu highway on Saturday.  

The officer who was killed has been identified as sub-inspector Sahib Shukla.

The attack took place at Panthachowk, when a CRPF vehicle was passing through the area. 

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“The militants fired at the vehicle from one side of the road injuring three CRPF men including an officer,” a senior CRPF office said “ The injured sub-inspector succumbed to his injures.”

Soon after the attack, security forces cordoned the area to find the militants involved.

Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), which has been behind some of the recent major militant attacks in the valley, has owned up responsibility for the attack. Abdullah Ghaznavi, LeT spokesperson, called a local news agency to say the outfit was behind the attack.

In a freak incident at the shootout site, the rifle of a local policeman went off accidentally, injuring a CRPF trooper and a policeman.

Restrictions have been imposed in the area following the militant attack.

District Magistrate Srinagar Farooq Ahmed Lone said "restrictions have been imposed with immediate effect from Ramunshi Bagh to Sempora" -- a stretch of the highway. — With agency inputs

The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment.