SRINAGAR, DECEMBER 13: At least five police personnel were killed and eight others injured in militant attacks at Lal Chowk and adjoining areas in the heart of the city on Monday.The attacks, carried out within a span of one hour in the afternoon, created panic among the people and shocked the security and police authorities, official sources said.In a ruthless exhibition of striking at will, militants carrying silencer-fitted pistols and grenades seriously injured a policeman, Constable Ghulam Nabi, at Madina Chowk near Gawkadal at around 2.30 pm, the sources said. Within minutes of the incident, militants exploded a grenade and targetted policemen with silencer-fitted pistols at Ghanta Ghar, they said.The attacks, particularly the grenade explosion at Ghanta Ghar, caused panic among people who ran helter-skelter to save their lives, the sources said.Shopkeepers in most parts of the violence-affected areas abandoned their routine work and rushed back home. Police, assisted by Paramilitary Forces, sealed off several areas but could not find any clue of the militants who struck terror in the city with the daylight attacks, the sources said.The attacks, which continued till 3.30 pm when ASI Sonam Durjay was shot dead at Kothibagh Bund, coincided with the arrival of State Chief Minister Dr Farooq Abdullah in the valley from Jammu on Monday, the sources said.No militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attacks so far.
