Four killed in
attack on house
of pro-India politician in IHK
SRINAGAR:
Militants on Sunday killed two policemen guarding the home of a pro-India
politician in Indian-held Kashmir in the first such attack in the restive
region since national elections got underway, police said.
Two
rebels sprayed the home of a National Conference politician with bullets in the
town of Khrew, 25 kilometres south of the main city of Srinagar. The attack
sparked a gunbattle that also left both militants dead, police said.
Yawar
Masoodi, a youth leader of the National Conference party which rules at state
level in Kashmir, was home at the time but was unharmed. "The two
policemen died before reaching hospital," a police officer at the scene
told AFP.
The
militants fled into nearby mustard fields after snatching the police officers'
weapons. Government forces on patrol in the area chased the attackers, sparking
the gunbattle as reinforcements from a nearby army camp also moved in, the
officer said on condition of anonymity.
"Both
the attackers were later neutralised and the snatched weapons also
recovered," Inspector General Nalin Prabhat from the federal Central
Reserve Police Force told AFP.
It is
unclear why Masoodi, who is not an elected member of parliament nor standing at
the polls, was singled out for attack. But pro-India politicians have been
targeted in the past by rebels. The district in Indian-occupied Kashmir where
the attack took place will go to the polls on April 24 as part of India's
mammoth elections that are staggered nationally over six weeks.
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