Baramulla: In a shocking incident of terror, a retired senior superintendent of police (SSP) was shot dead by suspected terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Sunday morning. The terrorists also fired at the mosque where the officer was offering the call of prayer.
The deceased officer has been identified as Mohammad Shafi, a resident of Gantmulla village in the Sheeri area of Baramulla. According to the police, Shafi was reciting the Azaan (call for prayer) in the local mosque when the terrorists barged in and opened fire at him. He sustained critical bullet injuries and was rushed to a nearby hospital, but succumbed on the way.
The police said that the terrorists fled the scene after the attack and the area has been cordoned off by the security forces. A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the culprits. No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the killing so far.
The police paid rich tributes to the martyr and expressed solidarity with his family. They said that Shafi was serving as the Reader to the Deputy Superintendent of Police in Srinagar and had retired recently.
This is the third such attack on security personnel in the Kashmir Valley in the past three days. On Friday, a police officer was critically injured in a terrorist firing in Srinagar. On Saturday, a laborer from Uttar Pradesh was shot dead by terrorists in Pulwama district. The incidents have raised concerns over the security situation in the region.
