In a major attack, terrorists on Monday shot dead seven people, including five policemen, after dragging them out of a vehicle carrying cash of a bank in Kulgam district of south Kashmir.
The cash van of the Jammu and Kashmir Bank, which was returning to Kulgam district headquarter from Damhal Hanji Pora, was waylaid by a group of heavily-armed terrorists on Monday afternoon, a police official said.
He said the terrorists pulled out the five police personnel and two bank employees from the vehicle and shot them from point blank range.
While four cops and two bank employees -- including a bank security guard -- died on the spot, the fifth cop succumbed to injuries at a hospital, the official said.
Among the deceased is an assistant sub-inspector of the police.
The terrorists have reportedly decamped with four service rifles of the slain cops but the police official said these reports were being verified.
The police is also investigating whether the terrorists had taken away any cash.
The Hizbul Mujahideen outfit claimed responsibility for the attack.
A spokesperson of the Hizb told a local news gathering agency that its cadres had decamped with four weapons from the scene of the attack.
Image: Security forces stand outside the cash van, which was looted by the terrorists. Photograph: Umar Ganie/Rediff.com
