J&K: Two cops gunned down in separate attacks; Proxy war, says DGP

Two policemen were shot dead by militants today in separate attacks, one at a police post near the revered Chrar-e-Shareef shrine and another outside the residence of a Hurriyat leader, in the Kashmir valley today, officials said. In both cases, terrorists decamped with the service rifle of the deceased. Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid dubbed the incidents as "proxy war" even as police teams prepared to nab the assailants. The first attack took place near the revered Chrar-e-Shareef shrine in Budgam district of central Kashmir, a police spokesman said. Constable Kultar Singh, who was guarding the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani this afternoon, was attacked and injured by militants who fled with his service rifle.

Singh succumbed to injuries at the Army's 92 Base Hospital here, a police spokesperson said. In the second attack, militants fired at Constable Farooq Ahmad Yatoo, who was guarding separatist Fazal Haq Qureshi at his residence in Bilal Colony in the Soura area here. The militants decamped with Yatoo's service rifle, the spokesman said, adding the injured policeman succumbed to injuries at the SKIMS hospital. Hurriyat leader Qureshi was injured when unidentified gunmen attacked him near his Soura residence in December 2009, according to officials. The spokesman said cases in both the incidents were registered and investigation set in motion. Meanwhile, Director General of Police (DGP) S P Vaid asked police personnel to be careful, saying they were fighting a proxy war in the state. Pained at the loss of a valued colleagueSGCt Kultar Singh JKAP 13 Bn who attained martyrdom in an attack on J-K Police guard for the protection of Charar-e-Shareef shrine," Vaid tweeted. We have lost another precious life when Constable Farooq Ahmad was martyred today in Srinagar. Be more careful boys, its the proxy war that we are fighting in Jammu & Kashmir, he added in another tweet.

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