A head constable was killed and a sub-inspector critically injured in a militant attack on Railway Protection Force personnel at a roadside tea stall in Pulwama’s Kakapora on Monday.

Police sources identified the dead head constable as Surinder Singh and the injured sub-inspector as Dev Raj.

Police said Dev Raj was rushed to Srinagar’s SMHS hospital where his condition was said to be critical.

A police spokesman said the area had been cordoned off and searches were underway.

Grisly pictures showed the two apparently lifeless bodies on ground, with their faces down and in a pool of blood.

The attack once again puts a question mark on government claims of having restored normalcy in the Valley.

On Saturday, a soldier died in a gunfight with militants at Watnar village in South Kashmir’s Kokernag. Two days earlier, militants had killed a sarpanch in North Kashmir’s Pattan.

Militants also carried out an attack in the heart of the city at Maiuma on April 10, killing a CRPF constable and injuring another.

Militants have also carried out a series of attacks on non-local labourers or members of minority Hindu community this month, killing a driver and injuring three migrant labourers and a Kashmiri Pandit chemist.

The administration has in recent weeks stepped up its crackdown on dissent and arrested scores of people.

On Sunday, police arrested a PhD scholar Aala Fazili for a write up he penned for a local magazine 11 years back. He has been booked under anti terror UAPA law. Fazili was also a prominent students leader.

Police said the article titled “shackles of slavery will break” was “highly provocative,” “seditious” and intended to create unrest in valley.