SRINAGAR — Motorcycle-borne terrorists struck a Central Reserve Police Force checkpost in South Kashmir's Kulgam district on Wednesday afternoon, shooting and injuring three paramilitary troopers before escaping through rural alleyways.
Security forces cordoned off the entire sector within minutes. Loudspeakers blared warnings across village lanes, ordering residents to stay indoors while armoured patrols swept arterial connectors.
The assault unfolded at approximately 2:15 pm at Akhran, near the busy transit junction of Mir Bazar. Assailants riding a motorcycle pulled up alongside the reinforced road checkpoint—a routine security deployment on the regional grid—and opened fire with automatic weapons. They fled before counter-fire could neutralize them.
"Three Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were injured after unidentified motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire on security personnel deployed at a naka in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir this afternoon," the CRPF confirmed in an official statement.
The strike triggered immediate panic on the highway. First responders rushed the wounded troopers onto stretchers and ferried them by ambulance to a medical facility in neighboring Anantnag district for emergency trauma care.
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was also present in Kulgam district on official engagements when the shooting occurred. Officials confirmed his convoy was operating far from the attack site and remained fully secure.
| Tactical Incident Parameter | Official Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Akhran Checkpost, near Mir Bazar, Kulgam |
| Time of Attack | Approximately 2:15 PM, Wednesday |
| Perpetrator Tactic | Motorcycle-borne hit-and-run gunfire |
| Casualties | 3 CRPF personnel injured (evacuated) |
| Medical Transit | District Hospital, Anantnag |
| Counter-Action | High-intensity Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) |
Siren-wailing ambulances raced past armoured troop carriers as joint military, paramilitary, and local counter-terror units threw an iron ring around Akhran and adjoining agrarian hamlets.
Troops established fresh barricades across all vehicular exits linking Kulgam with Anantnag and the national highway. Aerial surveillance teams and ground tracking squads fanned into orchards, searching homes and verifying commuter identities.
The strike hits amid heightened security protocols across Jammu and Kashmir and reminds of the persistent frontline hazards facing the Central Reserve Police Force nationwide. Just last month in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, four CRPF personnel sustained injuries in an IED explosion while neutralizing residual ordnance at the Alarmedgu operational base.
South Kashmir remains on high alert. Joint search teams are scouring adjacent forest tracts and tracking the motorcycle's flight path, with counter-insurgency officers widening the dragnet into late evening.