11 cops injured in IED blast at Sopore

Srinagar: At least eleven policemen, four among them were critically injured in a powerful bomb blast in Sopore town of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district on Wednesday.Correspondent from north Kashmir said that the militants fired a rifle grenade towards the police station Sopore early this morning which missed the intended target and exploded near the wall with a bang. However, no one was injured in the grenade attack.Soon after the attack, a posse of policemen came out rushing out of the police station purportedly to nab the attackers. However, an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by suspected militants near the police station went off with a huge noise. The IED blast left at least eleven cops injured. Pertinently, the IED was planted at a spot which is under constant surveillance of CRPF and police.Some of the injured cops identified as Head Constable, Ghulam Nabi (Belt No 01/SPR), Senior Grade Constables Morifat Hussain (Belt No No 1786/S), and Farooq Ahmad (Belt No 23/SPR), Constables Abdul Rashid (Belt No 279/SPR), Farooq Ahmad No. (Belt No 741/ IRP 16th Bn), Amit Kumar (Belt No 488/IRP 16th Bn), Mohammad Ramzan (Belt No 124/SPO), and Special Police Officers (SPOs) Farooq Ahmad (Belt No 485/SPO) and Shakeel Ahmad (Belt No 166/SPO) were rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment. However, four of the critically injured policemen were rushed to SK Institute of medical sciences, Srinagar for specialized treatment. Quoting eyewitnesses, the correspondent said that the blast was so powerful that it broke window panes and glasses of the adjacent houses.After the explosion, Army, Special Operations Group (SOG) of police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) launched a joint search operation in the adjacent localities. The joint team allegedly roughed up traders and passerby. “An explosive material planted by militants outside Police station Sopore went-off this morning, injuring Nine Policemen. All the injured were shifted to Sub-District Hospital Sopore. Four seriously injured have been referred to SKIMS, Soura for further treatment, where condition of one of them, is said to be critical,” a police spokesman said.Medical Superintendent, SKIMS, Dr Syed Mohammad Amin Tabish told this news agency that three of the four injured policemen were stable, while the condition of another injured cop was not good.“One policeman with multiple injuries is under observation at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  Other three are stable,” he added.