The J&K police on Sunday claimed a Pakistani militant involved in the July 1 sneak attack on a CFPF foot patrol in Sopore was among three Lashkar-e-Tayyaba cadres killed in a gunbattle with the security forces in the town’s neighbourhood. One CRPF jawan was killed and two others injured in the July 1 attack. However, it was the killing of 65-year-old civilian Bashir Ahmed Khan that sparked off a huge controversy.
While the J&K police and CRPF said Khan, a Srinagar resident, was hit by bullets fired by militants hiding in the attic of a nearby mosque, the slain man’s family, including his wife, a former police officer, said he was shot dead by the CRPF in reprisal.
The police said Sunday one of the two militants behind the attack was among the three LeT cadres killed in a gunfight in Reban village outside Sopore town. The police identified him as a Lashkar cadre from Pakistan who was active for some time using his codename Usman.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Sunday demanded “enhanced and proper” security for party workers in J&K in view of the “constant threat” to their lives during a visit to the home of slain party leader Sheikh Waseem Bari in Bandipore.
