Militants fire at two forest department employees in J&K’s Pulwama

Srinagar, Jul 19 (PTI) Militants have shot at and injured two forest department employees in the Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Wednesday.

A police spokesperson said the force was informed that “terrorists had fired upon a team of forest department employees” who had laid a checkpoint to apprehend timber smugglers near Bangender Bridge in the south Kashmir district.

“Senior police officers reached the spot with additional reinforcement to ascertain the facts,” he said.

The injured — Imran Yousaf Wani and Jahangir Ahmed Chechi — were taken to a hospital.

While Wani, who received a bullet injury on his thigh, was later shifted to S M H S Hospital in Pulwama for specialised treatment, Chechi had superficial injuries and was discharged after first-aid, the spokesperson said.

A case has been registered and an investigation was underway, he added.

Soon after the incident, the whole area was cordoned off by security forces and an intensive search was launched. Two empty cartridges and a bullet head have been seized, the spokesperson said, adding the search operation was going on.