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Retired Indian Police Officer Shot Dead in Kashmir

By Fayaz Wani

Srinagar, Aug 31: A retired Indian police officer was shot dead by militants in North Kashmir Friday evening and the body of an abducted carpenter was recovered from a forest area.

A top police officer of North Kashmir, Vipluv Kumar said that militants shot a retired police officer, Mohammad Amin Khan, at point blank range. The officer was killed near Drabgun, Pattan in the North Kashmir district of Baramulla, this evening. He received critical bullet injuries and was removed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Immediately after the incident, Indian police and Indian para-military personnel laid siege around the area to flush out the militants responsible for the killing of the former police officer. No arrests were, reported.

Meanwhile, police recovered the body of an abducted carpenter from a far off forest area in the outskirts of Srinagar. Identified as Mohammad Ismail Chechi of Kangan, he was abducted by unidentified gunmen on August 27 and his body was recovered today. Police said that there were torture marks on the body of the carpenter and it appears that he was tortured to death by his abductors. "The brothers of the deceased carpenter work in the Indian army and Indian BSF respectively", a police officer said.

A police spokesman today claimed in Srinagar that police averted a major tragedy by detecting and defusing a live hand grenade in Srinagar. "A live hand grenade was found during the search operation by police at Batmaloo area in Srinagar. The experts of the bomb disposal squad were immediately called and the civilians in the whole area were immediately evacuated", he said adding, "The bomb disposal experts neutralized the device safely".

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.