Jammu and Kashmir: Militants open fire on Pandit guards

 Officials said the CRPF personnel retaliated, forcing them to flee the spot

Representational image.Shutterstock

TT Special Correspondent   |   Srinagar   |   20.04.22  :  Panic gripped a Pandit neighbourhood in South Kashmir after militants opened fire on security forces guarding members of the minority community amid heightened security alarm over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jammu and Kashmir next week.

Officials said the CRPF personnel retaliated, forcing the militants to flee the spot. There was no loss or injury on either side.

Reinforcements were rushed to the area to hunt down the militants.

A police officer said militants opened fire on a security bunker guarding a few Pandit families in Herpora Batgund area of Shopian at around 10am.

The village is home to over half-a-dozen Pandit families and enjoys round-the-clock security. It is surrounded by concertina wire to prevent militants from getting close.

This is the second attack on minorities in the district in the last fortnight.

On April 4, a Kashmiri Pandit chemist was injured in a militant attack.

Militants have carried out a series of attacks on non-local labourers or members of the minority Hindu community this month, killing a driver and injuring three migrant labourers besides the Pandit chemist.

A sarpanch and a few security force personnel were also killed in similar attacks.

On Monday, a militant opened fire on two RPF jawans at a roadside tea stall, killing a head constable and injuring an assistant sub-inspector.

CCTV footage showed the militant shooting them from a point-blank range before fleeing.

Officials said the forces have sounded the highest security alert in Jammu and Kashmir in view of Modi’s visit on April 24.

It would be his first visit after the scrapping of the special status in 2019.

The forces have stepped up vigil and are frisking people and checking vehicles following apprehensions of a rise in militant attacks.