Militants attack BSNL outlet in Sopore; 1 killed, 2 injured

Officials said it seemed to be an attack on telecom operators as militants had threatened them in the past

One person was killed and two others were injured in a militant attack on a telecom company outlet in Sopore town of north Kashmir's Baramulla district today, police said.

The militants opened firing on the franchisee of BSNL at Iqbal Market in Sopore, 52 kms from here, which resulted in injuries to three of its workers, a police officer said.

The injured were rushed to a local hospital, where doctors referred them to a hospital here for treatment, the officer said.

He said one among the injured, Mohammad Rafiq (26), a resident of Handwara area of Kupwara district, succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

The two injured, Ghulam Mohammad Bhat (40) and Imtiyaz Ahmad Lone (30), both residents of Sopore township, were being treated upon, the officer said.

He said it seemed to be an attack on telecom operators as militants had threatened them in the past. It was second such attack in less than 48 hours in Sopore area.

Suspected ultras had hurled a grenade at a residential compound where a mobile transmission tower was installed on the intervening night of May 23 and 24.

Although officials were tight-lipped as to why the militants were targeting telecom installations, sources said the ultras were upset about "theft" of their communication equipment from mobile transmission towers in Sopore and surrounding areas earlier this month.

The militants had allegedly installed communication equipment atop the towers of private and PSU companies.