Suspected Jaish terrorists killed SPO, kin in Pulwama, say police

According to Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar, SPO Fayaz Ahmad was at home with his family around 11pm on Sunday when two terrorists barged into their house and opened indiscriminate fire

Police on Monday said that two foreign terrorists from Jaish-e-Muhamad outfit could be behind the attack that killed a Special Police Officer of the Jammu & Kashmir police, his wife, and his daughter in Hariparigam village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.

Relatives mourn during the funeral of the special police officer, his wife and their 22-year-old daughter who were killed when militants attacked the family last night, in Pulwama on Monday. (Waseem Andrabi/HT)

According to Inspector General of Police, Vijay Kumar, SPO Fayaz Ahmad was at home with his family around 11pm on Sunday when two terrorists barged into their house and opened indiscriminate fire. “As per preliminary investigations, Ahmad’s wife and daughter sustained injuries while trying to save him,” said Kumar.

They were rushed to the hospital where Ahmad and his wife Raja Begum died during treatment, while their daughter, Rafiya, succumbed to her injuries on Monday, he added.

“There is a movement of Jaish militants in the area and, as per the appearance of one of the terrorists, they are foreigners,” said Kumar.

The “cowardly” attack triggered sharp response from leaders across parties.

Jammu and Kashmir’s lieutenant governor, Manoj Sinha, termed the killing brutal. “I strongly condemn the brutal terrorist attack on SPO Fayaz Ahmad & his family at Awantipora. This is an act of cowardice & perpetrators of violence will be brought to justice very soon. My deepest condolences to the family of martyr & prayers for the recovery of injured,” tweeted Sinha.

“No words are strong enough to condemn the cowardly attack in Awantipora that claimed the lives of a JKP officer Fayaz Ahmad, his wife & daughter. May Allah Ta’ala grant them maghfirat & their loved ones the fortitude to bear this loss,” tweeted PDP president, Mehbooba Mufti.

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack in a tweet and said: “I unreservedly condemn the dastardly and cowardly militant attack on the J&K police SPO Fayaz Ahmed, his wife and his young daughter at their home last night. I pray they receive their place in Jannat and their loved ones find strength during this terrible time.”

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Altaf Thakur,too, termed it barbaric “Barging into the house of a cop and killing him and his family members is nothing but a pure form of terrorism,” he said.

“What was the fault of the innocent wife and daughter of policeman Fayaz Ahmed? Killing women is [not] bravery but a purely cowardly attack which deserves the highest form of condemnation,” Thakur added.

This is the latest in a series of attacks on locals in the Union territory.

On June 23, a shop owner was killed when gunmen opened fire on him in Srinagar.

Police had said that militants fired upon a mobile phone shop owner Umar Nazir Bhat of Kelashpora, inside his shop at Main Chowk Habba Kadal in Old City.

On June 22, a police officer was killed in a suspected militant attack on Srinagar outskirts.

Officials said that Inspector Pervaiz Ahmad, who worked with the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) wing of the police, was fired upon near his home at Nowgam.

He was rushed to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital in the Old City, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.