Two days after a special police officer posted with a legislator deserted the force and fled with at least seven rifles and a pistol, suspected militants shot dead a policeman and ran away with his weapon in southern Shopian district on Sunday. A police official said that some militants appeared near police station Shopian at around 6.30 am and fired upon a policeman guarding its main entrance. The injured policeman was quickly rushed to nearby district hospital where he succumbed, he said.
The slain policeman was identified as Saqib Mir, a resident of KarewaManloo village in Shopian.
The militants, according to the police, also snatched Mir's AK-47 rifle and fled.
Police have registered a case and launched hunt to nab the assailants, the official said.
Before the body of the policeman was handed over to his family, a wreath-laying ceremony was held at district police lines, Shopian. Later, hundreds of people attended Mir's funeral prayers at his native village.
In the past two months, this is the second such attack by militants in the area. On August 29, militants shot dead four policemen who were part of an officer's security detail in Arhama village and also fled with their weapons.
On Friday, special police officer Adil Bashir, posted with PDP MLA from southern Wachi constituency, fled with seven AK-47 rifles and a licensed pistol of the legislator from his official residence in Srinagar, triggering a security alert across Kashmir and a reward of Rs 2 lakh by the police for anyone giving information about the SPO.
