A Head Constable, who was on Amarnath Yatra security duty, was shot while making a purchase at a shop after the assailant allegedly waited nearby with an assault rifle concealed in cloth.
Jammu and Kashmir Police has launched a massive anti-terror crackdown across the Kashmir Valley after a policeman on Amarnath Yatra security duty was shot dead in a targeted attack in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday. Officials said more than 1,000 suspected overground workers (OGWs) linked to terrorist groups were detained for questioning as security forces intensified operations to track down the assailant and dismantle terror support networks.
The attack was the first terror strike targeting police personnel in the Valley this year. Head Constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, a resident of Budgam district, was on Amarnath Yatra security duty when a lone terrorist, believed to be a Pakistani national, opened fire on him.
Qureshi sustained critical injuries and was rushed to the Government Medical College Hospital in Anantnag, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
Officials said the Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy outfit of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), claimed responsibility for the targeted attack in a social media post shortly after the incident.
According to officials, the assailant had been standing outside a shop with an assault rifle wrapped in cloth before carrying out the attack. Unaware of the terrorist’s intentions, the shopkeeper reportedly asked the man if he wanted to buy anything, as the policeman was making purchases at the shop.
The killing triggered an immediate security response, with Director General of Police Nalin Prabhat visiting the attack site for a first-hand assessment. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched extensive anti-terror operations.
The crackdown expanded across Anantnag, Budgam, Pulwama, Kulgam, Shopian and Srinagar. Officials said nearly 700 of the more than 1,000 detainees were picked up in Srinagar alone.
A Srinagar police spokesperson said the operation was aimed at dismantling the ecosystem supporting terrorism.
“The coordinated operations, carried out on the basis of credible intelligence and as part of an ongoing investigation, resulted in detention of nearly 700 suspected OGWs for questioning and verification in accordance with established legal procedures,” the spokesperson said.
Police said the operations were intended to identify and neutralise networks providing logistical, financial, communication, transportation, shelter and other support to terrorist organisations.
In Pulwama, police established mobile checkpoints at several locations to prevent the movement of subversive elements, while Additional Superintendent of Police Shafat Najar supervised frisking and search operations.
In Shopian, police conducted a large-scale security and counter-terror operation to prevent any attempt to disturb peace and maintain a strong security grid. In Budgam, preventive raids led to the detention of more than 200 suspects, including OGWs, miscreants and narco-offenders, for questioning and verification, officials said.
Senior police officers personally monitored the intensified search operations across the affected districts as security forces remained on high alert throughout the Valley.
At the Anantnag police lines, officers from the police, Army and paramilitary forces paid tributes to the slain policeman by laying wreaths. The tricolour-draped coffin of Qureshi was later sent to his ancestral home in Budgam, where emotional scenes unfolded as his grieving family bid him a final farewell.