Policeman among two shot dead by militants

Suspected militants on Friday shot dead two persons, including a police officer, in separate incidents in Pulwama district of south Kashmir.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Farooq Ahmad was shot from point-blank range by unidentified pistol-borne militants in Pulwama town, police said.

The officer was taken to Pulwama district hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Ahmad, who was posted in Pulwama Police Station, was on law and order duty at the time of the attack, they said, adding that he was not carrying his service weapon with him.

This is the second militant attack on policemen in the Valley within a fortnight.

In the second incident, militants shot at and critically injured Mudassir Ahmed Mir inside his house in Pulwama town around 9.30 pm, they said.

The militants had barged into Mir's house and opened indiscriminate firing on him from close range.

Mir, a farmer, was taken to the district hospital where he died of his injuries.

No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the killings.