Srinagar:
Suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militants disarmed two policemen guarding a minority village in Tral area of Pulwama district and escaped with four service rifles of the cops, official sources said.
Five to six militants descended on the minority protection picket at Arigam in Tral area, 35 kilometre from Srinagar, at around 10.30 pm last night, sources said.
They said that the ultras overpowered the two cops present inside the picket and snatched three SLR rifles and one INSAS rifle along with eight magazines and one radio set from them before fleeing from the place.
The sources said that the four policemen were posted on duty at the picket but only two were present at the time of the incident.
An alert has been sounded across the south Kashmir range and an operation has been launched to trace the militants, the sources said, adding fresh deployment has been carried out at the Sikh village for the protection of the inhabitants.
This is second incident of weapon snatching in south Kashmir this month.
On May 4, militants had decamped with service rifles of four cops posted on guard duty at a village inhabited by Kashmiri Pandits in Shopian district.