Farooq, Omar Abdullah & Mehbooba Mufti condemn Srinagar terror attack; pin blame on Centre

After a group of terrorists opened fire on a police vehicle in the Pantha Chowk area of Srinagar, killing two and injuring 12 others,  National Conference supremo Farooq Abdullah put the blame on the Government of India. Speaking to the media, Farooq said that until the hearts of the people of Jammu and Kashmir are won, such incidents will continue to take place.

J&K leaders condemn terror attack on police in Srinagar

Also, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti reacted to the terror attack, saying that she was 'terribly saddened'. She wrote on Twitter," GOI's false narrative of normalcy in Kashmir stands exposed yet there has been no course correction." 

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah dubbed the terror attack as 'terrible news'. Taking to his Twitter handle, Omar condemned the attack and sent heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased and prayers for those injured. 

As per sources, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Is the attack a retaliation for the 2 terrorists neutralised? 

Republic TV has learnt that the attack is said to be in retaliation for the two terrorists who were neutralised by cargo police in the day. The Srinagar police had neutralised two LeT terrorists including a foreign terrorist in a brief chance encounter at the Rangreth area of Srinagar. Both the terrorists were involved in several terror crime cases and civilian atrocities, and played a key role in a number of recent killings in Srinagar City, the J&K police stated. 

"Based on specific input regarding the movement of terrorists in the general area of Rangreth, surprise naka checking points were established tactically by Srinagar Police in the area. During naka checking at one such naka manned by a small team of Srinagar Police, two suspected persons on noticing the police party fired indiscriminately upon them. However, the fire was effectively retaliated, leading to a brief encounter. In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists were neutralised on spot," the statement by the J&K police read. 

Arms and ammunition including 2 AK rifles and other incriminating materials were recovered from the site of the encounter. "All the recovered materials have been taken into case records for further investigation and to probe their complicity in other terror crimes," the police stated. 

Image: PTI, ANI