Suspected militants shot dead a police constable on Wednesday outside a mosque in Kulgam while he was coming out after offering prayers on the occasion of Eid Al-Adha, in the second killing in south Kashmir in the last eight hours, officials said.
Police said 34-year-old Fayaz Ahmed was on leave and died on spot. Ahmed, a resident of Zazripora Kulgam, is survived by two daughters, aged five and two years, his wife and mother.
“Police have registered a case under relevant sections of the law and an investigation in the matter has been initiated,” a police spokesperson said.
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Shabir Ahmad Bhat, who was abducted by unknown gunmen on Tuesday evening, was killed and his body found at Litter village.
Fayaz is the fourth policeman to be killed by militants in the past four months. The militants had earlier asked policemen and special police officers (SPOs) to leave their jobs or face consequences. More than a dozen SPOs resigned in south Kashmir’s Tral after they received the threat.