Returning to Srinagar, militants today gunned down two CRPF men and then hurled a grenade on a security picket, leaving 25 people wounded, among them five securitymen. The attacks, separated by 20 minutes, took place at Budshah Chowk and Batamaloo despite tightening of security in view of the ongoing Assembly session.

“Two CRPF personnel from the 28 Battalion were critically injured when militants fired at them from point blank range with silencer-fitted pistols around 12.30 pm. Hit from behind, they were taken to hospital where they succumbed to injuries,” CRPF spokesman Prabhakar Tripathi said. He identified them as Raj Shekharan and Malik Arjun.

After the attack, police and CRPF cordoned off the area around Budshah Chowk and conducted searches. Police sources said the militants, taking advantage of the rush and panic in the area, escaped. Officers reached the spot to see how militants managed to carry out an attack in an area which is heavily guarded.

Security agencies were looking at CCTV footage to “identify the culprits”. No militant outfit has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Twenty minutes after the Budshah Chowk attack, militants hurled a grenade at a security picket in a busy market in Batamaloo. Three men of the CRPF, two of the J&K Police and 20 civilians were injured in the attack. The condition of one of them is said to be critical.