This modus operandi was quick and involved a well-known sequence: Two gun men, two men, one bike and one check post for escape. This well-known sequence became a reality on Wednesday, 11th November in the Kulgam district of south Kashmir.
Two CRPF officers were wounded in an attack on a security force at a check post in the Kulgam district by gunmen riding motorcycles. The incident occurred around 2.15 p.m., according to the CRPF.
The incident has not been elaborately described by the CRPF. As per them, the assailants fired at the security personnel and fled from the site. The injured were shifted to a hospital in Anantnag district for medical treatment.
No details have been provided regarding the number of assailants, number of gunshots fired, and type of weapon. No names and designation of the injured have been given.
The police response to this incident has been cautious. As per an official from the police, there has been firing against CRPF personnel in the Akhran locality of Mirbazar in Kulgam, and the details of the incident were being verified.
However, at this stage, there has not been any information regarding the injuries. Nevertheless, the injuries have been mentioned in the first place by the news agency KDC quoting sources from the CRPF. Following this, there have been mentions from other news agencies such as ANI and IANS as well, all quoting the CRPF.
While in the headline of the news, the place is mentioned as "CRPF camp," in the body of the news, it has been termed "naka" or roadside checkpoint, according to sources from the CRPF.
Several aspects remain unclear at this point. There has not been any mention about any organization taking the responsibility for the incident. No details have been announced regarding any suspect, any recording through cameras, or any search at the place of the attack.
There has not been any information from the police about the nature of the attackers being militants, as it had been mentioned in some news headlines. The term “terror attack” in some reports has been used to refer to the incident.
It is evident from past occurrences of similar type of cases that police used to obstruct the area, register the case, and analyze the CCTV camera route taken by the criminals. In the current case, nothing has been done so far, as per the reports available, and therefore it is needed to be monitored.
There have been previous incidents of militants attacking the security personnel in Kulgam. As reported by Deccan Herald, an attack was launched on the police constable at his residence in the district during July 2017. Militants were seen shooting at a policeman in another incident in which a civilian was wounded. This incident took place at Yaripora Chowk.
The modus operandi of motorcycle-mounted attackers has not been new for Kashmir. As reported by the police, militants had opened fire on a CRPF team in Nowgam in October 2020. Two members of the security team were killed while three were wounded.
There was no mention in the reports of a statement made by the government of Jammu and Kashmir, police authorities, or Home Ministry regarding the attack that occurred on Wednesday.
Since the attack took place at a roadside checkpoint during the day, one issue that will have to be looked into by the investigation team is how the perpetrators managed to get there and go back undisturbed.
