Ex-Army man killed; wife & neighbour’s daughter injured in J&K terror attack

Gunmen shot at and wounded a former Army official and his wife in Jammu and Kashmir’s southern Kulgam district on Monday. A 13-year-old girl was also injured in the terror attack.

The ex- Army man identified as Manzoor Ahmed Wagay (45) has succumbed to his injuries in a Srinagar hospital, a report said. His injured spouse Aina Akhter (32) and Sanai Hameed, daughter of their neighbour Habibullah Shah, have received bullet injuries in their legs and are reported to be “stable”.

The officials have blamed the incident on separatist militants and said that the injured were quickly evacuated to a nearby hospital whereas the area has been cordoned off to launch an operation to track down the assailants.

The police sources said that ex-Army official Mr. Wagay, a resident of Kulgam’s Behibagh area, and his spouse were targeted by the gunmen outside their home, leaving them injured.

“They were fired upon from point blank range. Wagay has received bullet wounds in his stomach and his condition is not any good, but the doctors are trying to revive him,” a police official has told this newspaper over the phone from Kulgam.

The critically injured Wagay was brought to a Srinagar hospital for advanced treatment, but he succumbed soon thereafter, the police and hospital sources said.

Meanwhile the J&K police on Monday filed a chargesheet against seven persons accusing them of being “terror associates” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) in a Srinagar court.

The case pertains to an encounter that took place between the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants and the security forces in Srinagar’s Khanyar area on November 2 last year. LeT commander Usman Bhai, a Pakistani national, was killed and two members of the J&K police’s counterinsurgency Special Operations Group (SOG) and as many CRPF jawans in the clash.

The police said that the chargesheet has been filed against the slain LeT commander and his seven associates under Sections 13, 18, 20, 23, and 38 of the UA(P) Act, along with Section 7/25 of the Arms Act. “Eight accused were involved in the case, including a Pakistani terrorist operating under the code name Usman, who was neutralised in a police encounter,” a statement issued by the said. It added that the charges have been formally filed against seven individuals for their involvement in various terror-related activities, while an abate challan has been submitted in connection with the deceased Pakistani terrorist.

Source » deccanchronicle.com