J&K policeman shot dead in Anantnag, first such attack since Pahalgam attack

Police personnel pay tributes to Head Constable Ashiq Hussain during the wreath-laying ceremony for the police officer, who was killed in a terrorist attack while on Amarnath Yatra security duty, at the District Police Lines in Anantnag, Jammu and Kashmir | Photo Credit: PTI

A Jammu and Kashmir police constable was shot dead by terrorists in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Wednesday, in the first targeted attack on a security personnel in the Valley since the April 2025 Pahalgam attack that killed 26 tourists,

The incident occurred two days after Chief Minister Omar Abdullah led a protest in New Delhi demanding the restoration of statehood.

The slain policeman was identified as Ashiq Hussain Qureshi, a resident of Lalpora in central Kashmir’s Budgam district.

A police official said terrorists opened fire on Qureshi in Anantnag’s Lal Chowk on Wednesday afternoon, leaving him critically injured.

Qureshi was immediately rushed to the Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, the official said.

“The entire area was immediately cordoned off, and a manhunt was launched to track down the attackers,” the official said.

Senior police officers rushed to the scene to supervise the operation, while additional security personnel were deployed across the area. Security agencies have launched an investigation to establish the identity of the assailants and the circumstances surrounding the attack.

Officials said security has been further tightened in and around Anantnag, with checks intensified at key locations and search operations continuing in the district. The area was already under heightened security because of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

No outfit had claimed responsibility for the attack till the filing of this report.

The killing marks the first targeted attack on security personnel in Kashmir since the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, in which 26 tourists were killed. The Pahalgam attack triggered a major security overhaul across Jammu and Kashmir, with authorities stepping up anti-militancy operations and deploying additional personnel to secure vulnerable areas and the annual Amarnath Yatra.

The attack came two days after Abdullah, accompanied by National Conference president Farooq Abdullah, party legislators and workers, along with leaders of the Congress and Left parties, staged a protest in New Delhi demanding the restoration of full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The demonstration was held on the first day of the parliament’s Monsoon Session, with the leaders urging the Centre to fulfil its commitment to restore statehood to the Union Territory.

Published on July 22, 2026