SRINAGAR: The Fidayeen attack on District Police Line in Pulwama is still going on even after the police said they killed two militants. So far, four CRPF personnel and four cops were killed in the operation, informed police sources said.

Soldiers deployed on outer cordon in Pulwama. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur

“All the families living in the buildings were evacuated,” a senior police officer privy of the development said. “But the operation is still going on.”

The officer said that two buildings of the Police Premises were destroyed. One of the buildings was completely destroyed and the second one was partially damaged.

The operation is still in progress and the exchange of fire is going on from both the sides, police said.

Though initially, it was said that only two militants had barged into the premises but the Home Secretary in Delhi Rajiv Mehrishi told reporters that four militants had actually got into the premises of which two are still alive. He said there were two Special Police Officials (SPO) trapped inside the DPL, reports said.

The four police man have been identified as constable Imtiaz Ahmad a resident of Churath village, two SPOs – Rafiq Ahmad Hajam and Mohammad Yousuf Hajam  – are the residents of Chandgam in Pulwama and the police nursing orderly is Amarjit Singh, a resident of Budgam.

Sources said that the State Police Chief S P Vaid laid the floral wreath on the bodies of two CRPF personnel at Awantipore even as two other slain CRPF personnel are being driven to Humhama.

Police said they will take a bit of time in getting the details of the personnel who were injured in the day long operation that is still going on.

Police said they have recovered the bodies of the two slain militants and it will take some time to identify them. Jaish-e-Muhammad has already staked the claim for the attack. The outfit is led by Moulana Masood Azhar, the militant ideologue who was earlier arrested in Srinagar and later freed in exchange of the passengers of a Air Indian plane in Kandhar.

The operation started early morning when the militants barged into the DPL complex forcing police and CRPF to react. They were later joined by the armed forces and the operation is still going on.

This is the first operation in the south Kashmir that was initiated by the militants. Earlier most of the gun battles were initiated by the police and the army after they raided the militants’ hideouts. Police sources said the operation will still take some time.

Police sources said they had enough inputs that Jaish will carry out a Fiadyeen attack but the only problem was the location and the target was not available.

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