“An army soldier deployed as part of the Road Opening Party (ROP) in Rawalpora highway area in Srinagar city was killed in an accidental firing incident. A probe has been ordered into this incident to explore all possible angles,” officials said.

Police maintain that it was a case of accidental firing that caused the soldier’s death.

ROPs are moved out with the first light in the morning to secure highways for the safe passage of army convoys on the Qazigund-Srinagar-Baramulla highway. The army convoys move at least twice on this highway from both sides each day.

To keep the militants at bay so that they are prevented from causing any mishap, the ROPs equipped with electronic surveillance equipment and sniffer dogs secure the highways before the convoys move out.

Militants have used remote-controlled improvised explosive devices (IEDs), grenades and firing from automatic weapons to cause harm to the convoys of the army, security forces and the police.

In addition to this, the VIP cavalcades moving on highways and roads are also targets of the militants and ROPs drawn out of CAPFs are used to secure VIP passage.

The Rawalpora accidental firing incident comes at a time when a gunfight is underway between the holed-up militants and the security forces in Khanyar area of downtown Srinagar.

Last reports said that intermittent firing continued at the encounter site as all exit points for the militants have been sealed by extra deployment of security forces to the area.

Saturday’s gunfight in the otherwise safe Khanyar area of downtown Srinagar has shattered the belief that downtown Srinagar has no militant presence for the last 10 years.