Srinagar: Two policemen were killed in a daring attack by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives to free a Pakistani terrorist being transported to a hospital in Srinagar on Tuesday.
The gunmen opened fire inside the SMHS hospital complex in a high-security area of Jammu and Kashmir's summer capital to help LeT terrorist Mohammed Naveed Jutt escape.
Six prisoners, including Jutt, were taken to the hospital for medical checkup. Naveed was escorted by three constables. Two pheran-clad terrorists who were lying wait in the hospital parking lot fired at the policemen accompanying Naveed as soon as the party got off the vehicle.
Head Constable Mushtaq Ahmad was killed on the spot, while Constable Babar Ahmad, was critically wounded. The third policeman did not retaliate. Still in handcuffs, Naveed ran out of the hospital and fled on a motorcycle along with the other assailants.
According to eyewitness accounts, the militants opened fire as soon as Jhutt, along with five other prisoners and the police team, got off the vehicle outside the Out Patient Department of the 70-year-old hospital.
The hospital, named after Shri Maharaja Hari Singh, the last ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, is strategically located on the banks of a tributary of the river Jehlum, with uptown Karan Nagar on one side and Nawab Bazaar in downtown Srinagar on the other.
Jhutt, a school dropout from Borevella district of Multan in the Pakistan Punjab, is believed to be involved in multiple attacks. These include an attack on the Army in Hyderpora in the city, an attack on the Silver Star hotel along the national highway outside Srinagar and three attacks on police and CRPF camps in south Kashmir.
He was arrested on August 26, 2014.
The militant had obtained sophisticated training and was good at handling equipment like a compass, GPS, wireless sets and mobile phones installed with Skype software, an official said.