Three Central Reserve Police Force jawans and one unidentified person was killed in an attack in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on Monday afternoon.
“At around 6 p.m., unknown militants attacked CRPF troops of the 92 Battalion deployed for law and order duties near Wangam Stop in the Qaziabad area of Handwara. Three CRPF jawans were injured in the attack and succumbed to their injuries,” said a CRPF spokesperson.
CRPF sources said the militants engaged the CRPF personnel in a stand-off fire, before fleeing from the spot. Two CRPF men died on the spot, they said.
The police spokesman said that during the cross firing one civilian was also got killed in Handwara. Earlier, the deceased was suspected to be a militant. “No weapon was recovered from the pit where the person was found dead,” a senior official said. Locals said the deceased is a local 17-year-old youth.
The police said the militants took advantage of dense foliage of nearby orchards to escape from the spot.
Immediately after the attack, the CRPF personnel made an attempt to repulse the attack and chased the militants. “A cordon and search operation by the CRPF was immediately launched after the attack to trace the militants,” the CRPF official said.
The attack comes just a day after four soldiers, including two officers, and a policeman, were killed in an 18-hour long operation, also in Handwara.
