Days ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the Valley, ultras stormed a CRPF camp stationed at a heavily fortified Hotel Ritz near Dal Lake today, triggering off a gun battle that left two fidayeen dead and one CRPF officer critically injured. While the police and CRPF sealed off the neighbourhood, intermittent gunfire raged on inside the hotel.At 6.30 pm, the extremists walked up to the barricaded entrance of the Ritz, firing at the security forces inside the bunkers, constructed behind the gate. Reacting swiftly, security men shot dead two fidayeen at the entrance but, a third was suspected to have sneaked inside the hotel premises. The Inspector-General of CRPF, Ranjit Sinha said, their sub inspector was injured in the shootout.‘‘We’ve killed two fidayeen when they tried to storm the headquarters of 94 battalion. Their bodies are lying near the gate. We suspect a third militant might have sneaked inside. The whole area is cordoned off and the operation would continue till we’re sure there is no one,’’ Sinha told The Indian Express. A little known militant outfit, Kashmir Janbaz Force has claimed responsibility for the attack. Sinha said both the dead ultras were from Pakistan.In the last three months, militants attacked two CRPF camps near Dal Lake and one in suburb of Rajbagh, killing more than 15 CRPF men.
