Srinagar: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was martyred and three were injured when militants attacked a Road Opening Party (ROP) in the outskirts of Srinagar on Srinagar-Baramulla national highway Thursday afternoon.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Kashmir range Vijay Kumar said Lashker-e-Toiba (LeT) militants were responsible for the attack.
A CRPF spokesman told UNI that militants fired at a CRPF ROP at Lawaypora, about 14 km from here on the highway Thursday afternoon.
He said four personnel were injured in the attack. The injured were rushed to 92 Base hospital where one of them succumbed.
Meanwhile, official sources said a massive search operation has been launched on both sides of the highway in the area to nab the militants responsible for the broad-day light attack.
Besides ROP deployed on the highway, security forces and police personnel, rushed from nearby police station and camps, have launched a massive hunt to trace the militants.
Eyewitnesses said militants resorted to indiscriminate firing on front and rare sides of the CRPF vehicle on the highway, where large number of Army personnel also remained deployed.
Traffic on the highway leading to world famous ski resort of Gulmarg, Kupwara and Uri was also disrupted for several hours. However, traffic was diverted through alternate routes.
On December 29 and 30 intervening night last year three militants were killed by Army in the same area. However, family members contested the security force claim and said all the three were innocent and were killed in a fake encounter. On November 26 last year two army personnel were killed on the highway in militant attack. (UNI)