Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 2: Just a day after Hizbul Mujahideen militants killed seven people including five policemen in an attack on bank cash delivery van, gunmen today raided a bank in Kulgam district and looted cash.
Two gunmen armed with SLR rifles barged into Ellaquai Dehati Bank in Kaddar village of Yaripora area in Kulgam and decamped with a cash amount of Rs. 65,800. The gunmen, who are suspected to be militants, fled instantly after looting the cash.
Soon after learning about the robbery, security forces including Army and Special Operation Group (SOG) of police rushed to the village and sealed off all the entry and exit points. The security forces launched a cordon and search operation to track down the gunmen but they had already escaped from the area.
The fresh incident of the robbery came day after Hizb militants carried out a deadly raid on cash van of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Pumbai village of Kulgam district in which five policemen and two bank guards were killed. The militants also decamped with four SLR rifles of the cops.
After demonetization last year in November, militants have raided and looted nearly a dozen banks in South and Central Kashmir districts. Police believed local and foreign militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba militant outfit are behind these robberies. A foreign militant of LeT, Abu Ali, who police said was behind some of the robberies, was recently killed in an encounter at Budgam district.
Meanwhile, security forces today launched a cordon and search operation in Behrampura village of North Kashmir’s Sopore area of Baramulla district following an input about the presence of some militants. Sources said Army’s 22 Rashtriya Rifles and SOG Sopore conducted searches in Behrampura but no one was zeroed in or arrested. Later the cordon was lifted.
Sources said soon after last week’s Fidayeen attack at Panzgam in Kupwara district, a security alert has been sounded in North Kashmir districts. The security forces are all alert and are maintaining a tight vigil over suspected persons. The Fidayeen attack on Panzgam Army base left three soldiers dead while two attackers were also gunned down.
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