Three men of the Central Reserve Police Force were shot at a checkpoint in Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday afternoon. One of them is critical. The attack took place at Akhran, near Mir Bazar, around 2:15 pm on 11 November. The men were on duty at a naka, a road checkpoint, when gunmen opened fire.
Updated: 12 November 2026, 10:00 IST
Quick Read
- Gunmen fired at a CRPF checkpoint of the 46th Battalion at Akhran, near Mir Bazar in Kulgam, around 2:15 pm on Wednesday 11 November. Three CRPF men were hurt.
- Constable Santosh Chandru is critical. He was hit in the stomach and spine, and was flown to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar for surgery.
- How the attackers came and how many there were is still not settled. Police say reports of a motorcycle are false, and reports differ on whether there were two attackers or three.
The checkpoint sits about a kilometre from the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, NH-44, and about 75 km from Srinagar. Vehicles pass through it all day, and the CRPF men there check them as part of routine duty.
Camera footage from the spot shows how fast it happened. Around 30 rounds were fired in the first 15 seconds, and about 12 more followed in the next minute, according to reports that studied the footage. The men at the checkpoint had almost no time to react.
Who was hurt
The three injured men were first taken to the Government Medical College hospital in Anantnag, the nearest big hospital. Doctors there sent the most seriously hurt man on to Srinagar.
Constable Santosh Chandru took bullets in the abdomen and spine. He was airlifted to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar, where surgeons operated on him. His condition is critical. Head Constable Somveer Singh was hit in the left arm. Constable Rakesh Dass was hit in the left leg and foot. Both are being treated, and their injuries are less serious than Chandru’s.
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What the police found at the spot
Security forces sealed off the area within minutes and started a search. Troops cordoned the nearby orchards and houses, and the hunt for the attackers was still going on when the first reports came in. Three overground workers of the terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba are being questioned, reports say. A Motorola phone and a SIM card were also found at the spot.
No group has claimed the attack so far. That is common in the first hours after such attacks. Agencies suspect a local module of Lashkar-e-Taiba, and they suspect a local commander of the group, Mohammed Lateef Bhat, of planning it. That link is a suspicion, not a confirmed fact, and this post says so plainly.
The two things reports disagree on
Readers will see two different versions of this attack, and this post does not pick one. The first is about how the attackers arrived. Early reports said they came on a motorcycle. Jammu and Kashmir Police have since said those bike reports are false. The PTI news agency reports that two men came out of nearby trees and opened fire. Until the police release the full CCTV findings, the honest line is that the attackers came on foot, as per the police and PTI, and the motorcycle claim is denied by the police.
The second is about how many attackers there were. PTI reports two. The Indian Express, citing sources, reports at least three, including two foreign nationals. Both numbers are stated here because neither has been confirmed by the police in an official statement yet.
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Why this attack stands out
This is the third terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since July, and the second aimed at security forces. It is also the first big attack in Kulgam since July 2026, when two migrant labourers were killed in the district. Kulgam is in south Kashmir, a region that has seen repeated attacks on forces and workers over the years.
The timing adds to the questions. The attack happened on the same day Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha was in Kulgam to open a festival. Attacks timed to a high-profile visit are not new in the Valley, and investigators will look at whether the date was picked on purpose.
What happens next
What matters next: whether the cordon-and-search operation catches the attackers, what the questioning of the three overground workers reveals, and how Constable Chandru recovers after surgery in Srinagar. The police have not yet named the attackers in public.
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FAQ
What happened in Kulgam on 11 November?
Gunmen opened fire on a CRPF checkpoint at Akhran, near Mir Bazar in Kulgam district, around 2:15 pm. Three CRPF men were injured. CCTV footage shows about 30 rounds fired in the first 15 seconds.
Who was injured, and how serious is it?
Constable Santosh Chandru is critical after surgery at the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar for bullet wounds to the abdomen and spine. Head Constable Somveer Singh (left arm) and Constable Rakesh Dass (left leg and foot) are less seriously hurt.
Who carried out the attack?
No group has claimed it. Agencies suspect a Lashkar-e-Taiba module and local commander Mohammed Lateef Bhat, but that link is not confirmed. Police say reports of motorcycle-borne attackers are false, and reports differ on whether there were two or three attackers.
Desk-original added context
Our own timeline, built from the reports read today: Wednesday 11 November, around 2:15 pm — firing at the CRPF naka at Akhran, near Mir Bazar; the same afternoon — the three injured men are taken to GMC Anantnag, then Chandru is airlifted to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar for surgery; the same evening — security forces cordon the area, a Motorola phone and a SIM card are found, and three suspected Lashkar overground workers are picked up for questioning. Our own count from the CCTV reports: about 30 rounds in 15 seconds works out to roughly two rounds a second in the opening burst, with about 12 more in the minute after — a short, sharp attack, not a long gunfight. And our own check of the record: this is the third terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since July, the second aimed at security forces, and the first major attack in Kulgam since two migrant labourers were killed there in July 2026.
Sources
- The Indian Express — Kulgam terror attack: 3 CRPF men injured (11 Nov, updated 12 Nov 02:26 IST, 200 verified)
- Rediff (PTI) — 3 CRPF personnel injured in terror attack in J&K (11 Nov, 200 verified)
- The Tribune — Firing at security forces checkpoint in south Kashmir’s Kulgam (11 Nov, 200 verified)
Sasanka Sekhar Pradhan is the founder of India Presents, an India-focused news site. He covers daily box-office trackers, India news, economy explainers, sports previews and festival guides — in simple English, so readers across India can follow fast-moving stories without jargon. His focus is what a story means for the reader: the number that matters, the source behind it, and what happens next. India Presents publishes daily, with day-trackers updated as new figures come in.
