Srinagar:
One person was killed and four others were injured as suspected militants struck in the tourist hub of Dal Lake area by shooting at employees of liquor shops inside a government-run hotel on the Boulevard Road in Srinagar today.
A police spokesman said unidentified militants fired from pistols near a liquor shop at Heemal Hotel on the banks of Dal Lake this evening.
An employee - Mushtaq Ahmad of Aloochi Bagh - was killed in the firing by the militants, who simultaneously carried out the attack at two liquor shops in the area, the spokesman said.
Ahmad had apparently died due to blood loss after bullet injury as the owner of the shop had downed the shutter while fleeing.
The employee's death came to light two hours after the shooting as his relatives came looking for him, the spokesman said.
He said four persons were injured in the incident. They are Fayaz Ahmad Khanday of Aloochi Bagh, Mohammad Sharief Sheikh of Batamaloo (both in Srinagar) and Ravi Kumar and Sunny Mehra, both from Jammu region.
The deceased and the injured were employees of licensed liquor shops operating in the area.
This was the second major strike by militants in the city within a month after an attack at a hotel on Parimpora-Pantha Chowk bye-pass road near Lasjan on October 19. Two employees of the hotel were killed and another was injured in the attack.