Days before polling, Srinagar tense after cop colony attack

With barely 48 hours to go for polling in the second phase of J-K elections, fear crept back and life slowed down in Srinagar today with the...

With barely 48 hours to go for polling in the second phase of J-K elections, fear crept back and life slowed down in Srinagar today with the fidayeen striking at a police colony.

A late-night suicide attack on the Bemina police housing colony on Saturday left a militant and a constable dead besides eight policemen, including three officers, injured.

Fear gripped the civil lines area when the police and personnel of the BSF and CRPF fired hundreds of rounds to flush out one surviving militant during the night and in the wee hours of this morning. However, police sources said, the militant managed to escape. Another had fled last night.

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The police said one of three fidayeen was killed late last night. The encounter, which started at 7.30 pm, continued till the early hours of Sunday. Farooq Ahmad, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Ramesh Jalla, SP City, North, and DySP Soura were among the injured.

The police said two identity cards carried by the militant who was killed bore the names of Barkat Ansari, without any address, and Farooq Ahmad of Dardpora, Kupwara. The residents of the colony and others living in the area said they were shaken by the attack which took place after almost a year in the city. People said they had stayed awake during the entire night, waiting for the gunfire to stop. ‘‘There were all kinds of explosions which rattled us especially the children,’’ said Shaheena, wife of a police officer. The police and CRPF men lifted the cordon around the building at 11.30 a.m. But the Srinagar-Qamarwari road wore a deserted look and the locals preferred to stay indoors. In the wake of the attack, the police threw a huge security ring around the city and intensified frisking on all routes leading to Lal Chowk, which houses several important intallations.

The police also increased nakas and beefed up security at the police headquarters and police lines, which are located close to the colony. A senior officer who was supervising the operation said a red alert had been sounded in the city and there would be more night patrol parties.

Srinagar’s 10 assembly segments and five more in Budgam go to the polls on Tuesday. The Bemina attack, he admitted, would ‘‘slacken the enthusiasm of the voters’’. At least residents of three constituencies — Batamaloo, Idgah and Amira Kadal — could hear the gunfire. ‘‘Definitely, it will tell upon the voter turnout,’’ the officer said.