Police admit ISIS presence in J&K after extremist group kills cop, calls for war

Srinagar: The Islamic State on Monday took the responsibility for attack on a police post and killing a policemen in Soura area of Srinagar. 

The policeman, Farooq Ahmed, guarding the residence of Hurriyat leader Fazal Haq Qureshi, in Soura area of the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir was killed and his rifle stolen by militants on Sunday.

"Assassinated an element of police in firing near city of Srinagar in Kashmir yesterday," Al Amaq News Agency of the ISIS claimed.

"A war has just begun," it added.

State police chief SP Vaid contradicting his earlier statement on the presence of ISIS in the valley told NDTV that it is now clear that the attack was carried out by ISIS and admitted "it is indeed a worrying sign".

“I don’t think ISIS has any footprints here,” Shesh Paul Vaid had said last year.

Also Read: Has ISIS succeeded in making inroads in Kashmir? Centre says no

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had also dismissed reports about the presence of ISIS in the state, saying the Indian Muslims would never allow such outfits to have a base in the country.

Vaid on Tuesday, told NDTV, "it is now clear that attack too, was carried out by ISIS and they were wrong to deny it". In the latest case, he said, the police knows the identity of the attacker and were on his trail. 

The officer, however, said, "There doesn't seem to be any substantial presence of ISIS". The attacks, he said, could have been carried out by a lone wolf or a few people driven by ISIS ideology.

In November, last year, ISIS, in its official news agency 'Amaq', had claimed the responsibility for a shootout in which a police officer and a militant were killed in Srinagar.