SRINAGAR: A terrorist shot dead a J&K police head constable in Lal Chowk market of south Kashmir’s Anantnag town when it was bustling with shoppers around 12.30pm Wednesday. This marks the first attack in Kashmir since the Pahalgam massacre that left 26 people dead on April 22, 2025.Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, attached to IRP 3rd battalion, was part of a team deployed to secure the “Lal Chowk-Kokernag axis”. He suffered critical bullet wounds and later died, Kashmir IGP VK Birdi said. Qureshi’s team retaliated but the terrorist escaped by blending into the crowd.According to a shopkeeper, two bullets struck his shop. “We heard gunshots and ducked down inside the shop. Later we saw a policeman lying on the road,” he said.Security forces sealed the area and launched a search. Police also cracked down on suspected terrorist networks, detaining many people for questioning. United Liberation Front J&K, a shadow group linked to The Resistance Front, which is an offshoot of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for the attack.A CCTV footage purportedly showing the attack spread online, prompting police to urge people not to circulate the video and warned of strict legal action against violators.The brazen attack in a busy market came during Amarnath Yatra, which began July 3 but has remained suspended since July 19 because of heavy rain and landslides. The drive from Lal Chowk to Nunwan base camp in Pahalgam, a starting point for the annual pilgrimage, takes just over an hour.Security was further tightened along Jammu-Srinagar NH-44 and across Kashmir valley. Lal Chowk is about 3km from the NH-44 intersection at Khanabal.Qureshi from Lalpora village in central Kashmir’s Budgam is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, and his elderly mother. His father, also a policeman, died in the line of duty in an accident at Banihal 15 years ago. Mourners streamed into the family’s home as grief swept through the village.Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha and CM Omar Abdullah condemned the attack. “My heartfelt condolences to the family of head constable Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, who sacrificed his life in the line of duty… This heinous act will not go unpunished,” Sinha said.BJP called the attack a desperate attempt by anti-national elements to disrupt Kashmir’s peaceful atmosphere and derail Amarnath Yatra, which it said had drawn an unprecedented response from pilgrims.Senior police officers described the killing as a rare strike, saying attacks targeting security forces had virtually disappeared from Kashmir valley over the past several years.The previous attack targeting a police officer took place on Oct 29, 2023, when terrorists shot inspector Masroor Ahmad Wani in Srinagar’s Eidgah grounds when he was off duty and playing cricket with friends. He died at AIIMS New Delhi on Dec 7.Lal Chowk in Anantnag last saw a major terrorist strike on Aug 9, 2021, when BJP functionary and sarpanch Ghulam Rasool Dar and his wife Jawahira Begum were shot dead in their home. In June 2019, terrorists attacked a CRPF team on KP Road near Anantnag, killing five personnel. Inspector Arshad Khan, who engaged the attackers at close range, later died of his wounds and was posthumously awarded the Shaurya Chakra.
