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Journalism of Courage
In the second such incident in four days, militants snatched weapons from police personnel at a picket in Pulwama district in south Kashmir, officials said today.
Ten ultras attacked the police picket on Tuesday night at Danga village and took away four rifles from J-K police guarding a bridge near Shopian area of the district. Four cops were suspended today and charged with cowardice.
The incident comes in the wake of militants snatching four rifles from cops at Chadoora in central Kashmir.
At 9.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 10 militants laid siege to a bunker on the bridge at Dangam. Inside, eight policemen who were supposed to be on duty were caught napping by the militants. ‘‘Nine policemen are usually posted at this spot but one was on leave and four others were taking it easy.’’
‘‘Our cops were caught unawares and not a single shot was fired in the drama that lasted around 20 minutes,’’ said a police officer posted at Shopian.
J-K Police Director General Gopal Sharma had ordered an inquiry into the matter and assured strict action against the policemen. ‘‘One odd coward brings bad name to the whole force. Interrogation of the policemen is on,’’ Sharma said. The two episodes aren’t isolated cases. Over the past 14 years, several such cases where cops didn’t put up a fight and handed over weapons to the ultras have come up.
