Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

Expressing “serious concern” over 90 per cent of service personnel being denied the right to cast their votes owing to inadequacies in the postal ballot and proxy voting systems, a parliamentary panel has recommended that that the Election Commission should appoint service officers as honorary election commission officers and entrust them with the duty of conducting elections in forward and difficult areas as it would ensure maximum participation of service voters.In its report tabled today, the Standing Committee on Defence has also stressed upon the need for urgently introducing e-voting for members of the armed forces and their family members to overcome the present challenges and limitations.The committee said several issues needed to be sorted out by the Defence Ministry in consultation with the EC. These included reduction in the size of e-postal ballot files to permit easy downloading, finalising standing operating procedure for on-line registration and one-way e-movement of ballots for effective implementation of the system, and devising and promulgating of unique service numbers for service voters.A Cabinet note on e-voting has been prepared and an advance copy sent to the PMO, which suggested migrant labourers also needed to be extended this facility.

Army facilitates surgery of boy with blue baby syndrome

Wasim Akram at a hospital in New Delhi. Tribune photo

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, December 8

Wasim Akram (6) of remote Bachianwali village in Poonch district, who was detected with blue baby syndrome, the serious congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot, has been provided assistance by the Army for the treatment of the disease.Under this disease a hole between the right and the left sides of the heart causes mixing of pure and impure blood, leading to ineffective oxygen supply to important parts of the body and resulting in fatigue and breathlessness.In July this year, the Romeo Force organised a mega specialised medical camp at Surankot in Rajouri district. Super-specialist doctors from various government hospitals from Jammu along with Army doctors treated more than 3,000 patients and identified 100 persons who were detected with cataract. They also identified 10 children, including Wasim, who were detected with congenital heart disease.“The Army coordinated the preliminary medical tests like echocardiography and pathology for the identified patients in Jammu. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, the Army facilitated liaison with ‘Gift of Life’ project initiated by Rotary Club, which took the responsibility to bear the expenses for the heart surgery,” said a senior Army officer.He said Wasim’s visit to Delhi for treatment along with his father was facilitated by the Army through liaison and coordination with the NGO (Rotary Club) representatives.On October 17, Wasim was admitted to Max Super-Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, and was operated upon by Dr Dinesh Kumar Mani, a renowned paediatric heart surgeon.A review by the doctor confirmed that the surgery had been successful and on October 28, Wasim again joined his family members.Wasim’s family has expressed gratitude to the Army for helping Wasim lead a normal life.

Court refuses to order probe against IAF, state officials

New Delhi, December 8A court here has refused to order an investigation in a complaint against Indian Air Force (IAF) officers and Haryana Government employees for allegedly allowing illegal mining on defence land in the state, saying there was no proper sanction to prosecute them.Special CBI Judge Bhupesh Kumar also dismissed the application seeking a court-monitored probe into the allegation that these public servants allowed illegal land mining in Tilpat Ranges 1 and 2 in Faridabad and caused a loss of over Rs 29 crore to the exchequer.“In the absence of valid sanction, no directions can be made under Section 156(3) (power of magistrate to order probe) of the CrPC. The application reflects that no sanction has been obtained by the complainant to prosecute the public servants.“Hence, the application for monitoring the investigation or to call status report is not maintainable. Consequently, the present application stands dismissed. File be consigned to record room,” the Judge said.A representation was sent on May 26 this year to the Prime Minister’s Office and the CBI Director for issuing appropriate order for instituting independent inquiry against the IAF officers and Haryana employees.The application stated that the complainant has tried to know the status of investigation regarding the complaint from the Prime Minister’s Office and the CBI Headquarters but he has not been informed. — PTI

Start over: A dose of realistic diplomacy is overdue.

HEART of Asia conference at Amritsar, attended by 14 participating and over two dozen supporting countries was jointly inaugurated on December 4 by Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and India’s PM Narendra Modi. It brought diplomatic theatre to Punjab and transitory focus on the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. It also stirred, to borrow from Marcel Proust, remembrance of things past. Firstly, the visit of Afghan President and PM Modi to the Golden Temple, the foundation of which was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir, a Sufi saint, on December 28, 1588, was a great opportunity missed to bury past hurts. While Sikh religion rose from the reformist Bhakti movement, it was chiselled by resisting religious persecution by some Mughal rulers and Afghan marauders in the 17th and 18th centuries.  The Golden Temple, often targeted, was eventually defiled and destroyed by Afghans under ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali. His raid of 1764 to target Sikhs, their holy places, particularly Amritsar, is etched in Sikh memory. Thus reducing President Ghani’s Golden Temple visit to a photo-op in the parikarma with PM Modi, without his expressing regret then or next morning, when he addressed the conference, was a great historical opportunity lost for contextualising Afghanistan’s current battle against the Taliban or the entire Islamic world’s struggle with radical Islam. After all, the Taliban destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas or ISIS now levelling churches or old monuments in Syria were displaying the same bigotry that Muslim despoilers of Indian places of worship showed in centuries past or even the Catholic Inquisition did in Portuguese occupied Goa of that period. It took a courageous German Chancellor Willy Brandt to kneel at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument on December 7, 1970, to kick-start the debate in Germany to take ownership for the sins of their Nazi past. Secondly, the rubric ‘Amritsar Declaration’ ignored that the 1994 declaration issued from Akal Takht demanding autonomy for Sikhs is also so titled. Ironically, while that resolution sought a looser federation in India, the present declaration seeks closer integration in the entire region from Central to Southern Asia. It ignores two critical elements. One, globally the trend is towards de-globalisation and protectionism, particularly in the West and the US, where benefits of regional integration are being questioned. Two, the heart of the matter is distrust amongst nations of the region, particularly between India and Pakistan, without which connectivity and trade cannot develop. The Heart of Asia conference was envisioned in 2011 to create a framework for discussion amongst neighbours of Afghanistan, as the declaration states, to increase ‘trust and confidence in the entire region’. This was to ensure that Afghanistan did not relapse into the post-1990 civil war between surrogates of neighbouring powers. It is common sense to conclude that to make Afghanistan economically self-reliant and wean it away from the narco-terror cycle of financing it needs to connect to regional trade and investment pathways. The Amritsar Declaration recognises this and addresses it in two parts. One deals with existing challenges; and the other on how to achieve prosperity. The former highlights the intermingling of terrorism, narcotics and radicalised Islam and exhorts participants to use national means and international commitments to counter that threat. The latter envisions connectivity and free trade across the entire region, based on the linking of existing and planned road, rail and port developments. For instance, the Indian trilateral agreement with Afghanistan and Iran for the development of Chabahar Port and the Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative are but two of a maze of currently separate ventures connecting China and Russia to Central Asia and further to South Asia. At the heart of this vision for a new Asia lie India-Pakistan relations, bedevilled by distrust and rivalry. At Amritsar, India caught Pakistan in a pincer move between President Ghani alleging that without Pakistani help the Taliban could not survive and India’s own lament that Pakistan must stop exporting terror and using it as an adjunct to their foreign policy. Although South block denied any meeting with Pakistan’s de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz, it is unbelievable that messages would not have been exchanged. If that did not happen, it was another opportunity lost as no muscular policy towards Pakistan can work without keeping the door open for ascertaining what effect, if any, the policy is having on Pakistan’s thinking. The Amritsar Declaration signals emerging consensus amongst Afghanistan’s neighbours that a stable Afghanistan is a condition precedent for a stable region. This cannot be achieved unless rivalries and zero-sum gaming are abandoned. Pakistan, in particular, has to reconcile that an independent government in Kabul will deal with other neighbours, including India. Furthermore, the region will not allow a regression to the Taliban era with Pakistani veto over who ran Kabul.  Para 14 of the Amritsar Declaration lists terrorist groups endangering the region, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad which are ISI-sponsored groups for targeting India. This gave India bragging rights on cornering Pakistan as China has been stalling the listing of their leaders by the UN Security Council.The question however remains about Indian strategy in dealing with the troublesome neighbour. The so- called ‘surgical strike’ has failed to deter Pakistan otherwise there would not have been beheadings of Indian soldiers at the LoC or the Nagrota attack. India can either escalate retaliatory strikes, by weapons fire or actual intrusion, hoping the Pakistan army will eventually sue for peace. Alternatively, India could give some time and space to the new chief of Pakistan army staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to see if he modulates his army’s tactics by putting the terror modules on leash, albeit temporarily. Assuming President-elect Donald Trump’s benediction or Chinese President Xi’s restraint, despite provoking him in Arunachal Pradesh, is poor strategising. As a rising power, beset currently with demonetisation disruption, it is not in India’s interest to escalate tension. All talks are not kowtowing, nor is chest-thumping a strategy. A dose of realistic diplomacy all around is overdue. The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

Pakistans National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz speaks during a news conference at the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad on December 4, 2016, after attending the 6th Heart of Asia (HoA) Ministerial Conference in Amritsar in India. AFP photo

Islamabad, December 5

India’s efforts to “spoil” Pak-Afghan ties will not succeed, Pakistan Prime Minister’s Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said as he downplayed the Afghan President’s criticism of Pakistan’s support to terrorism, saying it was meant to “please” India.“Ashraf Ghani’s (Afghan President) statement is regrettable. It shows anxiety in Kabul and is understandable due to deteriorating law and order situation,” Aziz said, adding that Ghani’s “statements were meant to please India”.He said India’s efforts to divide Afghanistan and Pakistan would not go far as “we are next-door neighbours”.“Indian efforts will not succeed to spoil Pakistan ties with Afghanistan, as our ties are religious and cultural. That is why we want that terrorism should end in Afghanistan,” he said on returning home after attending the Heart of Asia meeting in Amritsar.“But our ties with Afghanistan are independent and we need to cooperate on several issues,” Aziz said.He claimed that India was trying to use Afghanistan for its own advantage “but it will not succeed”.Aziz also accused India of not treating the Pakistani media properly at the Heart of Asia meeting and said he was not allowed to have a press conference.“The attitude towards media was not good. I wanted to have press interaction with our own media. But we were not allowed,” he alleged.Afghan President Ghani had accused Pakistan of launching an “undeclared war” against his country by covertly supporting terror networks, including the Taliban, and asked it to use its USD 500 million aid to check extremism on its soil.He had also demanded an Asian or international regime to verify Pakistan-sponsored terror operations.

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Aziz said Pakistan had reassured Ghani that its territory would not be used against Kabul.“I reassured Ghani that we will not allow out territory to be used against Afghanistan. But also emphasised better border management,” said Aziz.Aziz said the Afghan leader had a different idea about the USD 500-million assistance pledged by Pakistan and proposed a trilateral commission with China to utilise the amount for welfare of Afghanistan. PTI

The increased threat perception from China on the Himachal Pradesh border countered with increased force level

Please write in with your narratives of war and soldiering to msbajwa@gmail.com or call/WhatsApp on 09316135343

Did the nation seriously think that a single night of multiple cross-LOC raids was enough to deter Pakistan from its war of a thousand cuts? Our adversary has a well-honed machinery for launching terror strikes led by an experienced leadership. The apparatus includes recruitment, training, motivation, equipping, arming, planning, intelligence, infiltration, communications and financing through non-state proxies. Most of all, they have an inexhaustible supply of willing recruits for suicide attacks backed by a campaign of religious fervour programmed in proxy warriors.

HT FILE PHOTOTerrorists armed with Chinese weapons undergoing training at a Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan.

What are our options in this war? Defending our civilians, security forces personnel, territory, installations and assets must count as most important. Remember, the enemy will always strike wherever we’re weakest or show any vulnerability. The history of warfare shows that a purely defensive strategy rarely works. Therefore, we must do unto the enemy what he’s doing unto us – in short, take the offensive. Hitting at the enemy’s leaders, personnel, installations and collateral assets through overt and covert means must get increasing priority from now on. The frequency of such strikes must be often enough to act as a deterrent. Lastly, we need to be prepared for the long haul and not get demotivated by casualties. FORCE LEVELS IN THE HIMALAYAS After the 1962 War, a new raising, 33 Brigade Ex-4 Mountain Division was deployed to defend the difficult terrain bordering Tibet in Himachal Pradesh. While the rest of the division moved out to take the offensive against Pakistan in September 1965, the brigade remained in situ because of the threat perceived from a belligerent China. In the late 1960s, the formation moved to the Kangra hills to join the newly raised 39 Division. Its replacement was 51 Parachute Brigade. When the Paras were deployed to defend Ganganagar in 1971, decreased threat perception meant that their replacement was the ad hoc 36 Sector. This consisted of just a battalion each of infantry and scouts supported by a 120mm mortar regiment.

Current assessments indicate a growing Chinese threat revealed by growing force levels and increased logistic support. In response, Indian defences are now manned by a full-fledged infantry brigade properly complemented by supporting arms and services. Additional forces from the plains are also dualtasked to this sector. ENCOUNTER WITH A SKY MARSHAL On a recent visit to 3 Jat, my buddy was a smart young Lance Naik called Dharmendra Dhaka (name changed). Tough, fit and resourceful, he carried himself with an athletic grace. It turned out that he was on deputation with the National Security Guard and had just returned for a promotion cadre. He serves with the NSG’s crack 51 Special Action Group and is deployed as a sky marshal on board civilian airliners. Having completed all the relevant courses and undergone arduous training, he eminently meets the exacting standards of his force. You might think a sky marshal’s job merely involves travelling by air and enjoying the best food and drink. It’s no cushy billet but means being alert for long periods of time involving a high degree of mental and physical robustness. So if, by chance, your co-passenger on a flight is a ruggedly handsome and sturdy Rajasthani, it could very well be the Jat Regiment’s very own ‘Garam Dharam’.

Speaking on the presence of the Chinese Navy”s ships and submarines at Gwadar port of Balochistan in Pakistan, the Navy Chief said that India was keeping an eye on them. PTI file photo

New Delhi, December 2

Refuting Pakistan’s claims that it detected and chased out an Indian submarine from its waters, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said operational necessity decided India’s submarine deployment.”Repelling submarine of any nation is not easy task. Claim made by Pakistan Navy is totally bogus,” the Chief of Naval Staff told media here during an annual briefing on Navy Day.  “We deploy our submarines where as per the operational necessity and where we need. We will continue to deploy our submarines,” Lanba said.The Pakistan Navy on November 18 claimed that it detected and chased away an Indian submarine that India was trying to station in its waters.Speaking on the presence of the Chinese Navy’s ships and submarines at Gwadar port of Balochistan in Pakistan, the Navy Chief said that India was keeping an eye on them.

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“We have capability and assets to take on any force which is deployed, and if and when this happens, we have plans in place to tackle it,” he said.Saying that the Chinese Navy has not touched the Indian waters, Adm Lanba added that India launches surveillance missions to keep an eye on the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy ships and submarines in the Indian Ocean region.Lanba said that the Navy is finalising design of the second indigenous aircraft carrier and will soon seek the government’s approval. He added that 40 ships, four submarines and 12 aircraft are deployed far and near to protect the Indian waters. — IANS

Dehradun, November 30

People of the state are elated over the appointment of Lt Gen Anil Kumar Bhatt as the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO). Members of the Uttarakhand Ex-Services League (UESL) wished him good luck and hoped that he would come through with flying colours.Recalling school days, UESL state president Brig (retd) RS Rawat said Lt Gen Bhatt was junior to him in St George’s College. Lt Gen Bhatt would be now responsible for all Army operations, including military operations along the Line of Control.Lt Gen Bhatt was commissioned in Gorkha Rifles. He was given responsibility of DGMO after Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was appointed General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Mathura-based Strike 1 Corps. He is a native of Khatwar village under Kirtinagar block in Tehri Garhwal district of the Garhwal division. He completed his primary education from Hampton Court School and studied up to class XII at St George’s College. — TNS

Lt Gen Anil Kumar Bhatt hails from Tehri Garhwal

• Lt Gen Bhatt has studied in St George’s College
• He got the charge of DGMO after Lt Gen Ranbir Singh was appointed GOC, Strike 1 Corps

COVETED JOB The post fell vacant after Lt Gen TS Gill (retd) demitted office in September after a yearlong stint

LT GEN NPS HIRA, DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF, AND LT GEN KJ SINGH, WHO RETIRED IN JULY AND HELD LAST POSTING AS THE GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING­IN­CHIEF OF THE WESTERN COMMAND, ARE FRONT RUNNERS

:The Parkash Singh Badal government appears set to appoint a Lieutenant Generalrank army officer as the chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), it is learnt.

This coveted and constitutional post is lying vacant after Lt Gen TS Gill (retd), who was appointed as the PPSC chairman in 2015, demitted office in September after a yearlong stint.

The PPSC comprises a chairman and 10 members, who serve for a fixed term of six years or until they are 62.

Sources say Lt Gen NPS Hira, deputy chief of the army staff, and Lt Gen KJ Singh, who retired in July and held last posting as the general officer commandingin-chief of the Western Command, are front runners among five decorated three-star generals who are vying for the PPSC chairman post.

Lt Gen Gurdip Singh, Lt Gen Gurmukh Singh, Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Sinha and Air Marshal KS Gill are other top-ranking army and air force officers who have applied for the chairman post.

Two posts of the members — official and non-official — are also vacant and the process is underway to park some influential people.

Three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including the 1981 batch Dr Ganesh Dutt Pandey -DGP-cum-commandant general, Punjab Home Guards — who will superannuate in August 2017, are also testing their luck.

Lok Nath Angra, currently holding the post of Amritsar commissioner of police and Paramjit Singh Grewal, IPS, are also angling for the post of PPSC member.

It is learnt that Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers, such as Gurdip Singh, PCS (retd); Gopal Krishan Singh, IAS; and Sukhjit Singh Bains, IAS, are also in the race.

The final decision about the next PPSC chairman is likely to be taken on December 5 by the high-powered committee comprising chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Vidhan Sabha speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal and the leader of opposition.

As the leader of opposition and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi along with other Congress MLAs had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha following the Supreme Court verdict on the emotive Sutlej-Yamuna Canal (SYL) issue, there is uncertainty if Channi will be attending the December 5 meeting even as the speaker is yet to accept resignations of the Congress legislators.

Sources say in the past two weeks, the high-powered committee meeting was postponed twice after CLP leader Channi in writing informed the government that he was unable to attend the scheduled meetings due to his busy schedule and wanted the government to postpone the meeting.

The government’s another move to appoint the chairman and member of the human rights commission has also hit a road block with the CLP leader not attending the meeting.

The government is exploring administrative and legal options to decide the next PPSC chairman in case Channi doesn’t attend the meeting for third consecutive time.

The Badal government began the practice of inviting applications for the post of PPSC chairman and members from “eminent persons of impeccable integrity and administrative experience from all walks of life” after the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2011 had set the guidelines, while setting aside Akali leader Harish Rai Dhanda’s appointment as the PPSC chairman.

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 29

Terror returned to Jammu and Kashmir today when a group of heavily armed terrorists stormed into an Army unit at Nagrota and killed two Army officers and five soldiers.In another gunfight at the International Border (IB) in Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba, three infiltrators were killed and five BSF men, including a Deputy Inspector General, and a police Inspector were injured in a gunfight which lasted several hours. During the day-long gunfight at Nagrota, three terrorists were eliminated. Combing operations were suspended in the evening and will resume tomorrow.A defence spokesperson said these terrorists, disguised in police uniform, targeted the Army installation located at Kour Jagir near the Baloni nullah in Nagrota area of Jammu, 3 km  from the 16 Corps headquarters. “These terrorists forced their entry into the officers’ mess complex by throwing grenades and firing at the sentries. In the initial counter action, one officer and three soldiers were killed,” the defence spokesperson said.“The terrorists entered two buildings occupied by officers, families and men. This led to a hostage-like situation, which was quickly contained. In the entailing rescue efforts, one more officer and two soldiers lost their lives,” he added. The bodies of three terrorists were recovered. “The combing operations will resume tomorrow morning,” and the area will be sanitised,” the spokesperson added.  Till afternoon, there was heavy exchange of fire between terrorists and the Army. Later, the intensity became low. However, intermittent firing continued till late evening.  This is the first major terror strike after the September 18 Uri attack in which 20 soldiers were killed. The fidayeen attack has been carried out near 16 Corps (White Knight Corps) headquarters at a time when there has been change of guard in the Pakistan army. Reports of ceasefire violation were also received from Uri sector of north Kashmir. 

It was Hostage-like situation at camp

• The terrorists entered two buildings which were occupied by officers, families and men. This led to a hostage-like situation. The situation was quickly contained and thereafter, in a deliberate operation all were successfully rescued, which included 12 soldiers, two women and two children. — Defence spokesperson

Killed in line of duty

• Major Gosavi Kunal Mannadir (33) from Solapur, Maharashtra.Survived by his wife

• Major Akshay Girish Kumar (31) from Bengaluru, Karnataka.Survived by his wife

• Havildar Sukhraj Singh (32)from Batala, Punjab.Survived by his wife Harmeet Kaur

• Lance Naik KS Yeshwantro (32) from Nanded, Maharashtra.Survived by his wife

• Grenadier Raghvendra Singh (28) from Dholpur, Rajasthan.Survived by his wife

• Rifleman Asim Rai (32)from Khotang, Nepal.Survived by his wife

File photo of Khawaja Asif, Defence Minister

Islamabad, November 26

Assuring severe retribution, Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that they will kill three Indian soldiers for every Pakistani soldier they neutralise.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday, Asif said, “Dire consequences would be faced by India, if it went to war against Pakistan.”

Asserting that the situation at the LoC was intentionally being intensified by the Indian government to win people’s support in the upcoming General Election, the Defense Minister alleged that “India was behind terrorism in Pakistan, and they have credible evidence against it”.

“We have sent dossiers and video films to the UN and other countries showing India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan,” Asif said.

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He also accused India of creating hurdles in the way of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as India was scared that the project would prove a game changer for Pakistan.

Acknowledging that Pakistan might be economically weaker than India, Asif said India knows that once the CPEC is complete, Islamabad will rise stronger.

However, he said that Pakistan would try to maintain a balance of power in the region and would not respond to India in any kind. —ANI

A senior police officer pays tributes to two policemen during a wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar on Friday. PTI

Ehsan Fazili & Suhail Shah

Tribune Reporters

Srinagar/Anantnag, Nov 25

Two militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and an Army jawan were killed in an encounter in Bandipora district of North Kashmir, while two policemen were killed in an attack by militants in Kulgam district of south Kashmir today.The police said search operations were launched at Manpora village of the Naidkhai area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir this morning on the receipt of information about the presence of militants. When the Army and elite SOG (Special Operations Group) of the police zeroed in, they were fired upon by the hiding militants, resulting in the death of an Army jawan.He has been identified as Naik Chandra Singh of 13 RR and a resident of Uttarakhand. The wreath-laying would be held here tomorrow, an Army spokesman said. The two militants were killed in the retaliatory fire. Their identity is yet to be ascertained.After the encounter was over, protest demonstrations were reported from the adjacent area where people demanded handing over of the bodies of militants to them.In another incident, suspected militants fired at a police station in the Handwara area of Kupwara district last night. Policemen opened retaliatory fire and the militants fled.A suspected militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, identified as Abdul Majeed Mir, was apprehended during a search operation in Sopore town of Baramulla district today.In another major incident today, two policemen were killed and another was critically wounded after militants opened fire on a party of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, some 69 km south of the summer capital, Srinagar.The slain policemen have been identified as Head Constable Tanveer Ahmad and Constable Jalauddin Ahmad. The injured policeman, being treated in Srinagar, has been identified as Shamsuddin Ahmad.All three policemen belonged to 18 Batallion of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP).According to police reports, the attack was carried out by militants in main town Kulgam about 1:30 pm today.“The militants appeared in a car and opened indiscriminate fire at the policemen on duty near the local bus stand,” a senior police official said.The place of attack is less than a 100 ft from the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kulgam.He said the firing left three policemen wounded, who were immediately admitted to the nearby District Hospital.“Two of them succumbed on the way to the hospital while the third has been shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for specialised treatment,” the official said. “His condition remained critical till the last reports were received from the hospital,” he said. The militants, however, escaped unhurt after the firing.Following the attack, the police and Army cordoned off the area and were on a hunt to trace and nab the attackers.Police sources said a vehicle suspected to be used by the militants for the attack had been recovered in the area.A wreath-laying ceremony was held for the slain policemen at the District Police lines in Kulgam. Deputy Inspector General (DIG), south Kashmir range, Niteish Kumar also attended the ceremony.