Anantnag: A 5-year-old boy who had pleaded with his father to take him along to the school his father taught at, was hit by a bullet in the chest and died when bike-borne militants opened fire on paramilitary CRPF men on duty near the Mughal Garden, along the old national highway, here in Bijbehara area on Friday noon.
One CRPF man also lost his life after being hit by multiple bullets on his head, chest and abdomen.
The slain boy has been identified as Nuhan Ahmad Bhat, son of Muhammad Yaseen, a resident of Mouchawa village in Yaripora area of neighbouring Kulgam district. Yaseen is a Physical Education teacher, posted in Jablipora area of Bijbehara, and had come to submit his monthly work done report to the Zonal Physical Education Office (ZPEO).
“Nuhan pleaded with his father in the morning to take him along. He did and they were also accompanied by Yaseen’s brother-in-law (his sister’s husband),” a family friend of the Bhats told Kashmir Reader.
He said that Yaseen and his colleagues went to the ZPEO’s office while his brother-in-law took Nuhan to the nearby Mughal Garden. “While they were outside the garden there was intense firing and Nuhan was shot in the chest,” he said.
Nuhan succumbed to his injuries while reaching the nearby Sub-District Hospital.
“He had a bullet wound in the right side of his chest. He was dead on arrival,” a doctor at the SDH told Kashmir Reader.
The CRPF man, also declared dead on arrival, was identified as Shamal Kumar Reddy, of 90 Bn. of the paramilitary force. “He had multiple bullet wounds on his head, chest and abdomen,” the doctor said.
A senior police official from Bijbehara said that the attack took place at about noon near the Mughal Garden, along the old National Highway in Bijbehara.
“The motorcycle-borne militants opened fire at the CRPF men on duty leaving one of the personnel and a little child dead,” the official said.
Following the attack, a huge contingent of forces reached the area and carried out searches to try and nab the attackers. The market in Bijbehara closed down immediately as gunshots reverberated in the area. The market remained closed throughout the day.

Suhail A Shah