Posted on 08/08/2002 3:36:27 PM PDT by swarthyguy
Bodies of 7 Pak terrorists including a 13 year old ultra who were shot dead by army on LoC in Mendhar Sector.
JAMMU, Aug 8: Twelve persons including four members of a family, two of whom were infants, two army soldiers and five terrorists were killed in continued violence across Jammu region over-night while a hardcore ultra surrendered before police. Barring two, all casualties occurred in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
In a gruesome incident, two terrorists sprayed bullets on four family members including two women and two children, who were present in the house and shot them dead at village Patrara in Manjakote area, about 16 kms from Rajouri last night, official sources said.
Fatalities included a woman Kiran Devi, 25, wife of Gulshan Kumar, who had been married only 25 days back, Ruby Devi, 30, wife of Yashpal and Ruby’s two children Muskaan, 4 and Mohit, 2. Gulshan Kumar and Yashpal, both brothers and their father were present in their shop, located just about 50 meters from their house. Only two women and two children were present in the house and all of them were killed on spot.
The terrorists, as usual, escaped.
Sources said one group of the terrorists had attacked a police post in Patrara, about 300 meters away from the scene of crime firing few rounds from automatic weapons to diver attention of police. Simultaneously, another group of terrorists intruded into the house and executed the killings.
Police parties from Manjakote police station rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area. A search operation was launched for the terrorists but they couldn’t be traced. Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri K A Khan also visited the village.
Bodies of the women and children were cremated this evening after day long protests in Manjakote by the local people. Protesters blamed police and civil administration for the killings of the civilians saying the authorities had failed to make adequate security arrangements in the village. Agitated people shouted slogans against the administration and Pakistan before cremating the bodies.
Strong resentment prevailed among the people of both communities as the victims were innocent women and children. "Can a four and a two year old babies be informers of security forces"? a civilian asked a visiting correspondent and said the ultras were indulging in the killings to raise level of violence and, in the process, they were dubbing all those killed as ‘informers’. Following protests by the people, security was being strengthened in Patrara village, the sources said.
Another civilian Shah Mohd, 50, son of Veer Mohd, an Agriculture Department employee, was shot dead by two terrorists in his house at Kot Behrot in Thanna Mandi area of Rajouri district at 2030 hours last night.
Shah Mohd, posted in Rajouri, had just reached his house from the office and was taking water when he was called out by the terrorists and gunned down. Both the terrorists fled away before arrival of police on spot.
Sources said no reasons had been ascertained so far behind the killings of civilians—both in Patrara and Kot Behrot.
Meanwhile, two army drivers, who were seriously injured in an ambush laid by the terrorists between Saj and Nerojal in Thanna Mandi, Rajouri late last night, succumbed to their injuries early today. They have been identified as Lance Naik Moti Parshad and Sepoy Mangat Ram of Rashtriya Rifles.
In wee hours of this morning, army launched a search operation in Nerojal hills from where the terrorists had resorted to indiscriminate firing on army vehicles. The terrorists remained untraced during the searches.
Bodies of army soldiers were sent to their houses with full military honours this afternoon.
However, the troops eliminated two hardcore terrorists of Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami (HUJI) outfit in a separate encounter at Kot Churung in Behrot area of Thanna Mandi this afternoon. The terrorists were eliminated after more than three hour long operation with army personnel, the sources said.
They said one of the slain terrorists has been identified as Mohd Azhar alias Ali Hamza (code name Shaheen) son of Noor Hussain, a resident of Bhimdassa, Gool in Udhampur district. Identity of his associate, who was believed to be a foreign mercenary, couldn’t be ascertained immediately.
One Pika gun with 193 rounds, one pistol with one magazine and three rounds, one wireless set and six hand grenades were recovered from the encounter site. An identity card was also recovered from the possession of Mohd Azhar, which had been issued to him from Kotli, PoK. It had the serial number 361.
Two more terrorists were killed in an encounter with army this morning in hilly village of Tanna in Banihal tehsil of Doda district. Two AK-47 rifles, five magazines, 122 rounds and one wireless set were recovered from the terrorists.
Another ultra was eliminated by army in Salhutri village on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jhalas sector of Poonch district last mid-night. Slain terrorist was a Pakistani and had infiltrated into Indian territory when he was shot dead by the alert troops.
His other associates fled back to Pakistan after firing by army personnel. One AK rifle and one box of ammunition were recovered from the spot.
This was second infiltration attempt foiled by army in Poonch sector today. Seven infiltrators were killed on the LoC in Mankot area of Mendhar sector yesterday.
A terrorist Mohd Ishtiyaq son of Mohd Bashir R/o Khanetar, Poonch surrendered before SHO Poonch Surjeet Dutta in Khanetar today. Ishtiyaq was active in the terrorism since July, 2000. He handed over one AK rifle to police at the time of surrender.
Elections are approaching, so Musharraf, the ISI and alqaeda are going increase their attacks on the people of Kashmir.
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