Militants shot dead a special police officer, Muhammad Ashraf Mir, a resident of Maspuna village in Pulwama, at Dalipora locality in the same district.
The deceased had been living in Chanapora area of Srinagar for the past 12 years. He had come to Pulwama to pay condolences to the kin of a deceased relative.
Local residents rushed him to Pulwama district hospital but he succumbed on the way. He had multiple bullet wounds in chest, abdomen and legs. The deceased SPO is survived by wife and three children.
According to locals, Mir was a former militant who was, after surrender, associated with Ikhwan-ul- Muslimeen, which is commonly known as Ikhwan.
Pulwama senior superintendent of police Choudhary Mohammad Aslam told Greater Kashmir that the deceased was working as an SPO in Srinagar.
“I was once SP cargo (the counterinsurgency unit of police in Srinagar) and I have seen him there,” he said.
Police officials paid floral tributes to the slain SPO. The ceremony was attended by SSP Pulwama, additional SP Pulwama and DSP Pulwama besides other officers.
In another incident, an SPO was critically injured when militants fired at him from a close range at Khanabal, Anantnag on Saturday.
The SPO was identified as Trilok Singh of Kangdoora –Tral, currently living in Kulpora-Achabal.
“The SPO had received bullet on left side of chest and after being stabilised he was referred to the police hospital Srinagar for treatment,” said Dr Majid Mehrab, medical superintendent Anantnag district hospital.
So far no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack which occurred two days after an SPO, Mushtaq Ahmad Sheikh, was shot dead by gunmen at his residence in Katoo-Wubzan village of Bijbehara. His wife was critically injured when she tried to stop the militants from firing at him.
Both AnsarGhazwatul Hind militant outfit, which claims affiliation with Al-Qaeda, and ISIS have claimed responsibility for the killing of Sheikh on their media channels, Khurasan and Amaq respectively.
“Yesterday in Bijbehara area an Indian police officer was eliminated,” reads the message posted in Urdu language on VilayatKhurasan.