Kashmir :Pak terrorist escapes after shooting down policemen in Srinagar hospital

Though a police official on condition of anonymity said that it was a militant attack,  well placed sources suggested that that there was no other militant except the prisoner- Naveen Ahmed alias Abu Hanzala, a top operative of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Sources added that a police escort brought Ahmed to the hospital for a medical check-up.

In  an audacious action, he first overpowered a cop, snatched his service rifle and then fired upon other policemen escorting him.

The gunshots created panic in the hospital. As the cops ran for cover, the militant managed to escape from the spot. “So far he is untraceable,” said an official.

Two cops were injured in the incident while one of them, identified as Head Constable Mushtaq Ahmed, succumbed to his injuries.

When contacted a top cop said that it will be premature to say anything right now. “We are investigating the matter and will find out whether militants helped the escape of  the prisoner or he did it himself.”

Meanwhile, an alert has been sounded and police have been asked to intensify the search operation and track down Ahmed, a Lashkar-e-Taiba district commander,  arrested in 2014 from south Kashmir's Kulgam area.

Code named Abu Hanzalla, from Multan in Pakistan, the man was active  in South Kashmir for the last two years. He was also  a deputy of the most wanted LeT chief in Kashmir Abu Qasim.

(Reporting by Saleem Iqbal Qadri)