CRPF jawan shot at, girl wounded in Kashmir

Srinagar, Apr 13 (UNI) A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel and a four-year-old girl from Bihar were seriously wounded when unidentified gunmen opened pistol fire near a Muslim shrine at Batamaloo here today.

CRPF spokesman Prabhakar Tripathy told UNI that the CRPF jawan, posted near the shrine of Sufi saint Sheikh Dawood at Batamaloo near here, was fired upon point blank by the gunmen while he was on patrol duty at around 1910 hrs this evening.

Constable Rajinder Kumar of the CRPF's 164 battalion and Khushi Kumari, a resident of Bihar, were critically wounded in the firing.

They have been rushed to the Sri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital here where the condition of the CRPF constable was stated to be critical, he added.

The condition of four-year-old Khushi Kumari, a mehandi wali, was also stated to be serious.

Mr Tripathy said the CRPF personnel did not retaliate as hundreds and thousands of devotees had gathered at the shrine today on the occasion of the birth anniversary of the Sufi saint.

A massive manhunt has been launched to nab the attackers.

UNI