Terrorists shoot dead SPO, his wife and daughter in J-K

Terrorists shot dead a special police officer, his wife and daughter in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district, officials said on Monday.

The ultras barged into the house of SPO Fayaz Ahmad at Hariparigam in Awantipora area around 11 pm on Sunday and opened fire on the family, the officials said.

The injured were rushed to a hospital where the SPO succumbed.

His wife Raja Begum and daughter Rafia also died later.

Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the assailants but no arrests have been made so far, the officials said on Monday.

Terrorists have intensified attacks on cops and security forces.

While an inspector and a constable were killed in Nowgam and Eidgah areas of Srinagar last week, a civilian died in a grenade attack on security forces at Barbarshah in the heart of the city.

Mainstream political parties in Jammu and Kashmir on Monday condemned the killing, calling it 'dastardly and cowardly' and a blot on the security scenario in the valley.

'I unreservedly condemn the dastardly & cowardly militant attack on the J&K police SPO Fayaz Ahmed, his wife and his young daughter at their home last night. I pray they receive their place in Jannat and their loved ones find strength during this terrible time,' National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah wrote on Twitter.

The NC called the incident a blot on the security scenario in Kashmir.

'JKNC unequivocally condemns the barbaric killing of ex-SPO Fayaz Ahmad, his wife and their 23-year-old daughter. It is a dastardly, inhuman act and a blot on the security scenario in Kashmir,' the NC said on its Twitter handle.

People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti said no words were strong enough to condemn the cowardly attack.

'No words are strong enough to condemn the cowardly attack in Awantipora that claimed the lives of a JKP officer Fayaz Ahmad, his wife and daughter. May Allah Ta'aala grant them maghfirat and their loved ones the fortitude to bear this loss (sic),' Mufti tweeted.

Peoples Conference (PC) chairman Sajad Lone said the news of the killing was 'extremely distressing' and called the perpetrators 'thugs of violence'.

'Woke up to extremely distressing news of violence. An entire family fell to bullets. No respite from these thugs of violence. May they rest in peace. May the family muster courage to bear this loss,' Lone said in a tweet.

Bharatiya Janata Party's J-K spokesman Altaf Thakur also condemned the attack as cowardly and barbaric, saying barging into the house of a cop and killing him and his family members is nothing but a pure form of terrorism.

"The act deserves the strongest condemnation and that those behind the act will meet the same fate. What was the fault of the innocent wife and daughter of the policeman? The killing (of) women is (in) no way bravery, but a pure cowardly attack which deserves the highest form of condemnation," Thakur said.

He expressed sympathies with the bereaved family and urged the police to bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice as soon as possible.

Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami said killing unarmed civilians cannot be justified in any way.

"Killing innocents, including women, is highly condemnable and such incidents have no place in the civilised world. Attacking civilians by the combatants is an act of cowardice and must be condemned by all in one voice," Tarigami said.

He said cycles of violence have been going on in Kashmir for the more than three decades, 'but what has been achieved so far?'

"Whom does violence suit? There is a need to ponder over the persistent violence, and society must come out and express itself against such brutal acts of violence," he said.

He expressed condolences to the bereaved family.