JAMMU: A special police officer (SPO) was killed and another critically injured after two terrorists attacked them with sharp-edged weapons in Tandar village of Dachan in Kishtwar district, about 70km from Jammu district headquarters, on Monday and fled with their service weapons. The policemen were on patrol duty when the attack took place. SPOs Pashid Iqbal and Vishal Singh — both Kishtwar residents and in their late 20s — were deployed at the special operations group (SOG) police post in Tander, Dachan. On Monday, they went to the upper area for patrolling when the accused Basharat Hussain and Ashiq Hussain, both from Tander, attacked the policemen with sharp-edged weapons. SPO Iqbal was killed on the spot while Singh was grievously wounded. The terrorists fled with the cops’ service rifles, Jammu IGP Mukesh Singh said.“Ashiq Hussain was in jail in connection with a rape and abduction case. He got out on bail around 20 days ago,” the IGP added.Soon after the attack, additional forces were sent in and a search operation was launched in the area to trace the perpetrators, whose affiliation is yet to be ascertained. A rescue team was deployed to save SPO Singh , who was stuck in the hilly terrain in a critically injured condition. He was finally airlifted and hospitalised but is still critical, police sources said.This is the third such killing in Kishtwar in the last three years. Last April, RSS functionary and health employee Chanderkant Sharma and his PSO were murdered by terrorists, who also decamped with the slain PSO’s service rifle. In November 2018, BJP functionary Anil Parihar and his brother were killed in a similar terror attack.Top cops, including the Jammu IGP, Kishtwar SSP and other senior officials rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation, Kishtwar deputy commissioner Rajinder Singh Tara said.