StatesJammu and Kashmir
Three CRPF personnel injured as motorcycle-borne gunmen fire at Kulgam checkpost
The attackers opened fire at about 2:15 pm on Wednesday near Mir Bazar and fled. The three wounded men are at Anantnag medical college and a multi-agency hunt is on.
Key points
- Gunmen on a motorcycle fired on a CRPF checkpost in Kulgam at about 2:15 pm on November 11, and three personnel were wounded.
- All three are from the 46th Battalion and were taken to Government Medical College, Anantnag, where two are stable.
- The area was cordoned off and a multi-agency search is on; no group has claimed the attack.
Three personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were wounded on Wednesday, November 11, 2026, when motorcycle-borne gunmen fired at a checkpost in Kulgam district of south Kashmir. The attack came at about 2:15 pm, and the assailants fled before security forces could catch them.
The spot is near Mir Bazar, close to the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The three men belong to the 46th Battalion and were taken to Government Medical College, Anantnag, about 22 km away.
Who was hurt
The wounded are Head Constable Somveer Singh of Madhya Pradesh, Constable Rakesh Dass of Assam and Constable Santosh Chandru of West Bengal. Officials said one was hit in the leg, one in the arm and one in the back. Singh and Dass are stable. Chandru has abdominal and spinal injuries and is described as slightly serious, though one report calls a wounded trooper critical.
The Deputy Commissioner of Anantnag, Bilal Mohiuddin, went to the hospital to check on the injured. The CRPF said in a statement that they were getting the best possible treatment.
The response on the ground
A government source said the wounded personnel fired back and chased the attackers, forcing them to retreat. The same source said the police and CRPF deployment at the naka was based on intelligence about suspicious movement, and that the response frustrated the attackers’ plan.
The area was cordoned off. Armoured vehicles and reinforcements were sent in, extra barricades were put up and loudspeaker announcements asked residents to stay indoors. Investigators are going through CCTV footage, including from local shops, to trace the route the attackers took. A forensic team examined the site. The CRPF said: “Operations are going on to nab the perpetrators.”
No group has claimed responsibility and the attackers have not been identified. The CRPF briefed the Ministry of Home Affairs, and a high-level meeting was under way there on Wednesday evening.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was in Kulgam on the same day, though not near the site, according to reports.
Earlier incidents in the district
The attack follows a run of violence in south Kashmir this year. On July 31, 2026, attackers raided a brick kiln in Kulgam and killed two labourers from Chhattisgarh. In July, a policeman was shot dead in Anantnag town. Our earlier report on the security review ahead of winter is here.
Defence analyst Hemant Mahajan described Wednesday’s firing as a “shoot-and-scoot attack”, the kind that aims to suggest that normalcy has not returned to the region.
Reactions
J&K Health Minister Sakeena Itoo condemned the firing and called for tight security. Congress leader Pawan Khera pointed to the Union government’s claim, made when Article 370 was read down in 2019, that terrorism would end in Jammu and Kashmir. He asked whether Home Minister Amit Shah had misled the country or failed to deliver, and said: “Either way, he is not fit to be the Home Minister of India.” He also wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Trinamool Congress leader Kunal Ghosh asked the Centre who is responsible for national security. Former Uttar Pradesh DGP Vikram Singh said the culprits should be booked immediately.
Why it matters
Kulgam sits at the foot of the Pir Panjal range, which links the Kashmir valley with Ramban, Reasi and Rajouri in the Jammu division. An attack on a checkpost four kilometres or less from the main highway raises the question of how safe the naka network is on the road that carries most of the valley’s traffic, including pilgrims and trucks as winter nears.
For the families of the three men, in three different states, the immediate concern is the condition of Constable Chandru. For residents, it is a day of restrictions and announcements to stay indoors while the search continues.
What happens next
The search for the attackers continues and CCTV analysis is expected to decide how quickly they are traced. The CRPF is expected to give a further update on the condition of the three men, and the Home Ministry’s meeting on Wednesday evening may lead to a review of checkpost security in south Kashmir. No date has been announced for any of these steps.