Fayaz Wani By

Express News Service

SRINAGAR: Militants on Friday killed three Special Police Officers (SPOs), whom they had abducted along with the brother of a policeman during nocturnal raids in volatile south Kashmir’s Shopian district in Jammu and Kashmir.

Police sources said bullet-ridden bodies of three abducted SPOs were recovered from village Lamni-Wangan, adjacent to Kaprain village in Shopian.

Militants had conducted raids in the Kapran and Batagund villages of the Shopian district during the night and abducted three SPOs and brother of a policeman.

The abducted SPOs were identified as Firdous Ahmad Kuchay, Kuldeep Singh and Nisar Ahmad Dobai, all residents of Shopian while the brother of the abducted policeman was identified as Fayaz Ahmad Bhat.

The joint teams of Police, CRPF and army had launched a massive combing and search operation in Shopian villages in the morning to trace the abducted policemen. However, before they could reach to the

abducted cops, the militants shot dead the abducted SPOs.

Police suspect the hand of Hizbul Mujahideen militants behind the abductions.

The Hizb operational chief Riyaz Naikoo had recently warned the policemen to quit the police force or face “consequences”. Last month, militants had abducted family members of 11 policemen in a tit-for-tat reaction after policemen had detained family members of militants.