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Three civilians identified as Mehrajuddin Wani of Rainawari locality, Mehrajuddin Shah of Nawa Kadal and Khursheed Ahmad Parray of Khansahib area of Budgam district received gun shot wounds in the attack and were admitted to a hospital where Parray (28) succumbed to his injuries, official sources said.
They said the condition of another civilian and a CRPF jawan, among the two of the injured from the force, was "critical".
The militants fired a volley of shots on CRPF personnel patrolling the Koker Bazar area of Lal Chowk around 1130 hours, injuring two CRPF personnel, force spokesman Prabakar Tripathi said. The ultras then fled from the spot.
Al-Nasireen and Farzandan-e-millat, shadow outfits of Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba, claimed responsibility for the attack. A caller introducing himself as Sami-ul-Haq, claiming to be the spokesman of the outfits, telephoned PTI saying the two outfits were behind the attack.
Tripathi identified the injured CRPF personnel as havaldar Omkar Ram and constable Basant Kumar of 132 battalion of the paramilitary force. Ram received gun shots in his neck while Kumar was shot in the stomach.
The attack by militants came despite tight security arrangements made by the police in view of intelligence inputs that militants are planning to attack the city.
At least 30,000 police and paramilitary personnel have been patrolling the city and carrying out searches of vehicles and frisking of pedestrians for the past few days.
Police and security forces immediately cordoned off the area to nab the militants involved in the firing which triggered panic in the over-crowded area. Several shopkeepers abandoned their shops and ran for cover.
The incident was the fourth in a series of attacks carried out by militants in the city within a week.
On March 14, militants attacked a CRPF patrol with grenades near a police station in downtown Srinagar, killing a jawan and injuring five others.
Earlier on March 7, militants shot dead a surrendered militant Aijaz Ahmad Dada outside his house at Bemina. The incident was followed by the killing of special police officer Mohammad Arif Bhat by militants near Abu Baker Masjid in Posh Jawahar Nagar locality on March 12.
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These kind of firing by millitants have become common in Kashmir and the army is incapable of stopping it. Army and civilians personnel are being injured or killed mercilessly. I don't know how the millitants have become more and more daring in the presence of thousands of millitary jawans. It is time the people of Kashmir should wake and stop supporting these ruthless LeT terrorists and support the army to keep peace in the area. All those instigating the roudy hooligans and protecting the LeT should be punished.
The attack is carried out by the enemies of peace.they don't want peace in kashmir as well as between indo-pak.
Indiscriminate shooting by some militants on March 16 at Lal Chowk in Srinagr was the fourth in a series of attacks carried out by militants in the city within a week' time. That the militants dare launch such daring attacks in the J&K's capital city is indicative of the fact that the militancy in J&K is far from subdued not to talk of being over and that Pakistan continues to believe that it can keep Inder under intense pressure by infiltrating terrorists into the valley on a regular basis. While keeping guard on further inflitrations, the government of India should continue to keep up pressure on Pakistan to stop infiltrating militants into India including into J&K.. Pakistan does not believe in the maxim that the monster of terrorism is no respector of any ethics. It does one day get back on its creator as is happening in the case of Pakistan. Pakistan is still nurturing some terrorist groups like the LeT to keep India under pressure even though it itself was hit 95 times in the last one year, the latest being 4 serial blasts in Lahore. The earlier Pakistan realises the need for peace with India the faster will it start living in peace.
The attack on the JKLF and the incidents of millitants attacks in Kashmir valley may further esclate when India and Pakistan are on the way to resume composite dialogue. The J&K police and the security agencies are once again on the testing grounds and people as the sitting ducks Siot sunderbani Jammu.