Security forces launched a massive search across south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Thursday for the militants who shot and wounded three Central Reserve Police Force personnel at a checkpoint a day earlier.
Motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on the personnel on Wednesday afternoon, and fled the spot soon after the firing. The checkpoint was near Mir Bazaar. It was manned by the CRPF’s 46th Battalion, and the injured were rushed to Government Medical College in Anantnag. Their condition has not been disclosed.
The CRPF confirmed the attack in a brief statement. “There has been firing on CRPF Naka at Kulgam, Kashmir. Three personnel injured,” it said, adding that operations were on to nab the perpetrators and that the wounded were receiving the best possible treatment.
The area was cordoned off soon after the attack. The operation intensified on Thursday. Outlook India reported that the hunt is for two terrorists, and named Lashkar-e-Taiba’s Lateef Bhat as a suspect. Authorities have not officially confirmed the attackers’ identities.
The attack triggered a political reaction. Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader Tariq Hamid Karra called it a major security lapse and questioned claims of improved stability in the region.
