Cop, minor son injured after gunmen open fire in north Kashmir

Altaf Ahmad Khan, a police officer in Hanjin village of Karlgund in Handwara, and his 9-year-old son were injured when unidentified gunmen barged into their house and opened fire on them.

A Jammu and Kashmir policeman and his minor son were injured when unidentified gunmen barged into their house in north Kashmir’s Handwara on Friday evening and opened fire on them.

The gunmen barged into the house of Altaf Ahmad Khan and shot him and his son, who was sitting on his lap. (Representative Image)

Altaf Ahmad Khan, a special police officer in Hanjin village of Karlgund in Handwara, and his 9-year-old son, who was sitting in his lap when the gunmen fired, were rushed to a hospital where they are undergoing treatment while police has launched a hunt for the gunmen.

Kashmir remained tense on Friday owing to two killings, protests by people and restrictions by authorities as separatists had called for protests against braid chopping incidents across the Valley.

Earlier, unidentified gunmen shot at a fruit vendor in Tral of Pulwama district. Rafiq Ahmad Bhat (37) died enroute to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh hospital.

In neighbouring Anantnag district, a 70-year-old man succumbed to head injury this morning after he was hit by a brick thrown by his nephew in Danter village on Thursday night.

Local reports, however, said a vigilante mob mistook Wani as the culprit behind braid-chopping and attacked him but police did not confirm the version.

Special investigation teams and 24-hour helplines have been set up in every district to probe braid-chopping incidents, which have created a sense of fear among women in the region.