SRINAGAR: A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) inspector was killed in a terrorist attack in assembly election-bound Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur district on Monday.
A police official said terrorists attacked an area domination patrol team comprising the local police and CRPF personnel at Chill in Dudu area of Udhampur.
The security forces returned the fire, and in the ensuing gunfight CRPF inspector Kuldeep Kumar of the 187th battalion sustained bullet injuries, the official said. Kumar was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
Udhampur will go to polls on October 1, the final phase of the three-phase elections.
Soon after the attack, additional troops reached the area and a massive manhunt was launched to track down the terrorists with the help of drones and sniffer dogs.
Monday’s attack comes five days after terrorists and security forces engaged in a series of gun battles in a day-long encounter in the dense Akar forest area of the neighbouring Doda district during which an Army captain was killed.
Earlier, on August 11, two soldiers and a civilian were killed in an encounter in a remote area in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district.
On July 16, four Army personnel, including a captain, died after being injured in a gunfight with heavily armed terrorists in a forest area of the Doda district of J&K.
There has been a sudden surge in terror attacks in the Jammu region in which over a dozen security personnel, mostly from the Army were killed. The militants have changed their strategy and are resorting to jungle warfare and hit and run attacks along forest areas. About 4000 more troops including 500 elite para commandos have been deployed.