Srinagar, Mar 30 : A councilor of Sopore Municipal Committee (SMC), who was injured in a militant attack in north Kashmir district of Baramulla on Monday, succumbed this morning, taking the death toll to three.

Meanwhile, four Special Police Officers (SPOs) of J&K police were suspended for ‘not retaliating appropriately’ during the attack, which was carried out by two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants.

Official sources said that after battalion for his life for several hours, BJP councilor Shams-ud-din Peer succumbed to his injured at SHMS hospital in Srinagar on Tuesday.

They said militants fired at SMC office at Sopore in which councilor Reyaz Ahmad Mir and a police personnel Shafqat Ahmad were killed and Shams-ud-din was injured. “The injured councilor was rushed to local hospital from where he was referred to SHMS hospital, where he succumbed this morning,” they said.

Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar, said that two LeT militants carried out the attack in Sopore. “Local LeT militant Mudasir Pandit and another foreign militant were involved in the attack,” he said after inspecting the attack site in Sopore on Monday.

The IGP also directed Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sopore to suspend four PSOs, who ‘were present there and didn’t retaliate appropriately’.

The Kashmir unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders questioned the authorities for not following the security protocols during their visit to SMHS hospital here on Monday.

In a statement, Media In charge Kashmir division, Manzoor Bhat said that he along with other party leaders including State General Secretary Yuwa Morcha Bilal Parray visited the injured person who was attacked in Sopore attack.

He said the leaders as per the set protocol informed the police officials as well as the concerned police station Karan Nagar about their visit to the hospital. However, he said no police official was deputed at the spot and thus the security protocols were not followed and the lives of leaders were put at risk.

Bhat further said that the situation was contrary in the past as the concerned Karan Nagar police station used to stay alert whenever the leaders visited the hospital.

He appealed to the IGP and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Srinagar to look into the matter and ensure
that the security protocols are followed in letter and spirit to avoid any untoward incident.(UNI)