Militants kill 3 J&K cops on Eid day: Why targeted killing of policemen continue in Kashmir
Sub-inspector Mohammad Ashraf Dar had gone home for Eid from his duty station when a group of armed gunmen barged into his house in Pulwama's Larve village on Wednesday evening. They looked for him and opened fire on Dar at point blank range. Dar died on the spot. This wasn’t the only cop killing that took place on this day. Two more policemen were killed by militants in South Kashmir on the day of Eid. The pattern and modus operandi were almost the same. They targeted the policeman who had come home on leave.
First the militants killed a policeman in Zazripora village of Shopian district and then killed another policeman in Louswani village in Pulwama district. Fayaz Ahmad Shah, was killed soon after the Eid prayers in Kulgam. He was was undergoing police training at Manigam training centre, had come home to celebrate Eid. Just hours later Mohd Yaqoob Shah was killed in Louswani village of district Pulwama outside his home.
"Initial investigation establishes complicity of Hizbul Mujahideen terror outfit in the case. We condemn these acts of cowardice by terrorists involving attacks on police officials," said a police statement issued in Srinagar.
Such attacks on policeman have increased of late. In the past few months several incidents have happened where militants have abducted special police officers (SPOs) from their homes mostly in South Kashmir and then they were taken to hideouts, tortured and subsequently killed. These hits are very meticulously planned and executed. And almost in all these cases it is seen that the militants make them record a statement on mobile phones and those video clips are widely circulated on the internet. It is done in a fashion so as to send out a message.
The issue is a grave concern for the security forces particularly for the J&K Police. The police force has a lot of its cadre from rural areas of Kashmir valley. In fact, scores of them are from South Kashmir in itself.
Keeping these challenges in mind the security forces have been issuing advisories to its personnel which they need to follow while going on leaves or visiting families living in trouble-prone areas. But these attacks have been continuing, making it difficult for the policemen to function in their day-to-day life.
While they have a duty to fulfil their professional commitments, they also have to attend to their families' needs.