Srinagar (Jammu & Kashmir): A retired police officer was shot dead by unidentified militants in Baramulla district of the Kashmir Valley on Sunday morning. Police said that militants killed Muhammad Shafi Mir, a former SP, when he was offering azan (call for prayers) in a mosque in Sheeri, Gantmulla of Baramulla district.
Mir, 68 had joined the department as sub inspector and got promoted as superintendent of police. He is survived by two sons and a daughter, all of whom are married.
"Terrorists fired upon Shri Mohd Shafi, a retired police officer at Gantmulla, Sheeri in Baramulla, while praying Azan in the mosque and succumbed to injuries. Area has been cordoned off," police said in a brief statement on X.
Relatives of the deceased officer said that since his retirement, Mir offered azan at the mosque five times a day. They added that on Sunday dawn he was inside the mosque reading azan, when unidentified militants fired at him.
"His body has been taken for medico-legal formalities; he will get laid to rest today after completion of these formalities," they said.
Today's attack is the fourth such assault on cops who are off duty or on leave. A police inspector Masroor Ali was killed in October in Srinagar's Eidgah when he was not on duty.
He was playing cricket at Eidgah ground near his home. A police Head Constable Ghulam Muhammad Dar, a resident of Wailoo Kralpora in Baramulla, was murdered on October 31 by militants. Another police constable Muhammad Hafeez Chak was attacked in Bemina Srinagar earlier this month. The cop was injured but survived the attack. His attackers were arrested by police.
Militants have intensified attacks on police in the Kashmir valley at a time when the Jammu and Kashmir police and the administration claim that security situation has improved and militancy has been pushed to backfoot after abrogation of Article 370.
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