Inspector-General of Police (IGP) in Kashmir Vijay Kumar and other senior police officers on Saturday visited family of the civilian who was killed during an encounter between militants and security forces in Sopore earlier this week.

Vijay Kumar condoled the family members even as the officers assured them of an impartial inquiry.

Some of the family members had said that the civilian died due to the bullets of the security forces. However, the CRPF later denied the allegation saying: “Terrorists hiding in a mosque killed an “old man” during the attack on security forces in Sopore town of Baramulla district of Jammu and Kashmir.”

The 60-year-old man was killed in the cross-firing on Wednesday morning in Kashmir. He suffered two bullet injuries and died on the spot.

Heart-wrenching images of a 3-year-old boy who happens to be the grandson of the deceased had emerged from the encounter site. As the militants opened fire and security forces retaliated, the boy and his grandfather happened to be passing by the area.

The Jammu-Kashmir Police later shared the picture of the boy being carried by security personnel on its official Twitter handle, saying it “rescued a three-year-old boy from getting hit by bullets during the terrorist attack in Sopore.”

Two other CRPF personnel were also injured in the terror attack.

(With inputs from PTI)