Councillor Shamasuddin Peer, who was injured in an attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Sopore a day earlier, succumbed to his bullet injuries at a Srinagar hospital on Tuesday. The toll from the attack on the Sopore Municipal Council office rose to three with Peer’s death.
Four personal security officers (PSOs) deployed for the councillors’ safety have been suspended as police admitted to lapses that led to the attack. A policeman was also killed in the attack.
Police have blamed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), its local operative Mudasir Pandit and a foreign terrorist for the attack.
Inspector general (Kashmir) Vijay Kumar said the PSOs were outside the office but failed to stop the attackers. “They could have acted and stopped this attack. It was a security lapse.” He added the four were sufficient to stop the attackers.
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Kumar said the council chief had not informed the police about the meeting. “Had the police been informed on time, there would have been additional deployments and this incident would not have taken place.”
Senior police and army officers visited the attack scene and later Kumar chaired a security review meeting.
{{/usCountry}}Senior police and army officers visited the attack scene and later Kumar chaired a security review meeting.
{{/usCountry}}“Preliminary investigation indicates that Mudasir Pandit of proscribed terror outfit LeT along with a foreign terrorist are involved in the attack. However, further investigations are rigorously going on,” said Kumar. He said they have arrested one person for allegedly sheltering the attackers. “We launched search and cordon operation at two places but they [attackers] managed to escape. They will be soon neutralised.”
Kumar said police were trying to plug the gaps and address security lapses.
Monday’s attack was the first on councillors since the formation of District Development Councils in Jammu & Kashmir.