Terrorist attack kills civilian, his 3-yr-old grandson saved

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper and a civilian were killed in a terrorist attack on security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Wednesday, officials

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) trooper and a civilian were killed in a terrorist attack on security forces in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Wednesday, officials said.

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The three-year-old grandson of the deceased civilian was rescued by security forces, according to officials. A photograph of him sitting on the lifeless body of his grandfather was widely shared on social media. The Jammu and Kashmir Police later shared on its official Twitter handle a picture of the child being carried by a security official.

Terrorists hiding in the attic of a mosque fired at CRPF personnel when they were getting off a bus around 7:30am, a spokesperson of the paramilitary force said. CRPF personnel retaliated, but the terrorists managed to escape. It was not immediately clear how many terrorists were holed up inside the mosque.

CRPF head constable Deep Chand suffered bullet injuries and died in the attack. Three others were wounded and admitted to a hospital.

The civilian, a 65-year-old resident of Srinagar, was passing by in his car with his three-year-old grandson when the attack began. Sopore, known for its apple orchards, is 50km from Srinagar.

His family accused CRPF of killing him, a charge dismissed by security forces as “false news” spread by miscreants. In a video, the man’s son said his father left home for some work early in the morning, and alleged that he was “brought down from his vehicle and fired upon”.

Vijay Kumar, inspector general of police, Kashmir Range, said the terrorists fired indiscriminately at CRPF personnel when they were de-boarding a bus. Panicked, the civilian rushed out of his vehicle with the child and tried to escape, but he was killed by a bullet.

“Later, miscreants spread false news. Even his son, due to the fear of militants and the miscreants, released a video, which is completely baseless,” Kumar said. He added that securitymen rescued the child without caring for their lives.

The Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, led by Altaf Bukhari, demanded an impartial probe into the killing. The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), too, demanded a time-bound probe.

Every incident becomes a “propaganda tool in the bloody violence in Kashmir”, former chief minister Omar Abdullah said.

“A three year old toddler has to have his misery broadcast to the whole world to drive home the ‘we good they bad’ message. We would have got the point without his misery being filmed and shared so please don’t,” he said on Twitter. “We would have expected no less from the men in uniform than to rescue the young boy and for that they have our gratitude but we would expect better than for them to film & use a three year old’s pain the way it’s being done today,” he added.

Meanwhile, in the Jammu division, the Indian Army foiled an intrusion bid and killed a suspected Pakistani terrorist along the Line of Control (LoC). “We acted on the basis of specific intelligence inputs from J&K Police, and a joint operation was launched close to the LoC in Keri area of Bhimber Gali sector in Jammu division’s Rajouri district,” said Lieutenant Colonel Devender Anand, spokesperson, Indian Army.

“Terrorists were seen crossing the LoC. Our alert troops foiled the infiltration bid. One terrorist was killed and an AK-47 rifle and two magazines were recovered...,” he added.

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