Two Police Personnel Killed, Three CRPF Troops Injured in Separate Attacks in Indian-Administered Kashmir

SRINAGAR (Terror Monitor) — Two police personnel have been killed and three members of India's Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) injured in two separate security incidents in Indian-administered Kashmir, prompting extensive search operations in the southern Kulgam district and the mountainous Kishtwar region.

The incidents, which occurred within hours of each other on Wednesday and Thursday, November 11–12, have raised fresh security concerns in the disputed Himalayan territory, where suspected militants have increasingly targeted security personnel.

Three CRPF personnel wounded in Kulgam checkpoint attack

In the first incident, three CRPF personnel were injured when suspected militants opened fire on a security checkpoint in Nowpora Akhran, near Mir Bazar in south Kashmir's Kulgam district, on Wednesday afternoon.

According to police and security officials, the attack took place at approximately 2:15 p.m. when armed assailants opened fire on personnel of the CRPF's 46th Battalion deployed at the checkpoint.

The injured personnel were identified as Head Constable Somveer Singh and Constables Rakesh Dass and Santosh Chandru.

They were initially shifted to Government Medical College in Anantnag for medical treatment. One of the injured personnel, whose condition was reported to be serious, was subsequently airlifted to the Army's Badami Bagh hospital in Srinagar.

Security personnel returned fire, but the attackers managed to escape from the area.

According to reports, the assailants were initially described as motorcycle-borne. However, subsequent investigation indicated that the use of a motorcycle had not been established, and authorities were examining CCTV footage and other evidence to determine how the attackers approached and escaped from the checkpoint.

The attack occurred on the same day Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was visiting Kulgam to inaugurate a cultural festival.

Following the incident, Sinha visited the injured CRPF personnel at the hospital and expressed solidarity with them. He said security forces had been given full freedom to take action against those responsible for the attack.

Two missing police personnel found shot dead in Kishtwar

In a separate and more serious development, the bullet-riddled bodies of two Special Police Officers (SPOs) were recovered from a remote forest area in the Dachhan region of Kishtwar district on Thursday morning.

The deceased were identified as 57-year-old Bobby Chand and 45-year-old Rashpal Kumar, both residents of Kiyar Dachhan and attached to the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Special Operations Group (SOG).

According to officials cited by local media, the two officers had left the Kiyar Dachhan camp on November 10 for rotation duty at an Army camp in the Dharna area of Marwah.

However, they failed to reach their designated destination and subsequently went missing.

Their bodies, bearing multiple bullet wounds, were recovered from a forested area in Dachhan after security forces launched a search operation.

Officials said the service weapons of both personnel were missing from the scene, raising suspicions that they had been deliberately targeted and that the attackers had taken their firearms.

Local residents reportedly heard gunshots in the area between Kiyar and Derana on Wednesday afternoon, around the time the two personnel disappeared.

Police and security agencies are investigating the circumstances surrounding their killings. Although the missing weapons and bullet injuries have raised suspicions of militant involvement, the identities of the attackers and their organisational affiliations have not yet been officially established.

Massive search operations launched

Following the two incidents, security forces launched extensive search and cordon operations in both Kulgam and Kishtwar.

In Kulgam, police, the Army and CRPF personnel have been deployed to locate the attackers responsible for the checkpoint shooting.

Investigators are examining CCTV recordings and gathering evidence from the scene to establish the number of attackers, their movements and the route used to escape.

According to local media reports, investigators are also examining the possible involvement of an alleged Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) network operating in south Kashmir. Several suspected overground workers have reportedly been questioned as part of the investigation, although no final conclusions have been announced.

In Kishtwar, security personnel have intensified searches across the mountainous and densely forested Dachhan and Marwah areas to identify those responsible for killing the two police personnel and recover their missing service weapons.

The search operations reportedly involve Army units, Jammu and Kashmir Police, CRPF personnel, drones, sniffer dogs and specialised security teams.

Security concerns grow across Kashmir

The latest incidents have added to concerns over renewed militant activity in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in areas where security forces have been conducting counterterrorism operations.

The Kishtwar region, part of the Chenab Valley, has witnessed renewed security operations in recent years as authorities attempt to track suspected militant networks operating in its remote mountainous terrain.

The dense forests and difficult geographical conditions in the upper reaches of Kishtwar, including Dachhan and Marwah, have complicated security operations and provided opportunities for armed groups to move between isolated settlements.

The Kulgam shooting also highlights the vulnerability of security checkpoints and personnel deployed along roads and other sensitive locations.

The incidents come amid heightened security arrangements in the region during the ongoing tourist season and a series of counterterrorism operations targeting suspected militant networks.

No militant organisation had publicly claimed responsibility for either incident in the latest reports available on Thursday.