Militants strike in Jammu region ahead of Singh-Sharif talks. ABHINAV VERMA Samba, Sep 26: At least 13 persons, including four cops and a senior army officer, were killed in twin militant attacks on a police station and an army camp here on Thursday morning. The attack comes a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for the U.S. yesterday, where he is scheduled to meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on Sunday for talks. Dressed in army uniform, a group of three militants stormed a police station and then an army camp in Samba district, killing nine people. The army managed to kill all three militants who were holed up inside the army camp after around four hours of gun-battle, taking the total number of casualties to 12. One army man also later succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. As per official reports, four police personnel, including an ASI, a shopkeeper, a truck-cleaner and four army personnel, including a Lieutenant Colonel, were killed by the heavily- armed militants before they were killed. The bodies of the militants remained in the army camp till late this evening as the security forces were carrying out sanitizing operation. The attack took place early on Thursday morning when a group of three militants reportedly intercepted an auto-load carrier in Jhandi village along Indo-Pak border. Dressed in army uniform, officials said the militants forced the auto driver to take them on the national highway. “Militants abandoned the auto outside the police station and fired on a cop who was on duty,” said Inspector General of Police (Jammu) Rajesh Kumar. “Three cops were killed inside the police station as the militants opened indiscriminate fire.” Eyewitnesses said the militants were carrying assault rifles and were aged between 16-21 years. “They fired outside the police station as well, killing a shopkeeper,” they said. A senior police officer said six persons were killed in the first attack carried out by the militants on the police station. They included four cops, a shopkeeper and a truck cleaner. “They (militants) were in army uniform and pointed gun on me. They wanted me to take them to national highway,” Roshan, driver of the auto, who also received three bullet injuries, said. Admitted to GMC Hospital Jammu, the auto driver further added: “As soon as the police station was spotted, the gunmen opened indiscriminate fire. I jumped out of the auto but was fired upon.” J&K’s Director General of Police Ashok Prasad also said militants had boarded an auto at gun-point from Hariya Chuk graveyard in village Jhandi, barely one km from the International Border (IB), and asked the driver Roshan Lal to take the vehicle to an Army camp at Hiranagar. Unable to locate the camp, the militants hurled grenades and stormed the police station at 6.45 AM where they killed a sentry at the gate and then an ASI Ratan Singh and a Special Police Officer. A constable, who was resting on the second floor of the police station, was also gunned down in the indiscriminate firing, Police said. The two cops were identified as Pardeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar. The militants were said to have conducted room-to-room searches before leaving the police station. Police said the militants fired at a PCO owner Suresh Kumar outside the police station before hijacking a tempo truck ((JK03-7810) which had been seized by the police the previous night. The militants boarded the truck, which was parked inside the police station premises, officials said. The tempo driver was asked to take the vehicle to a nearby Army camp at Samba while the truck-cleaner Muhammed Feroz, a resident of Kashmir, was shot dead. The militants again de-boarded the truck midway and hijacked another unidentified vehicle to reach near the army camp on the outskirts of Samba township. “They (militants) de-boarded the vehicle outside the Army camp at Samba and opened indiscriminate firing on a soldier deployed at its security gate before they stormed the premises,” the IGP told media persons. The militants also lobbed a hand grenade to ensure their entry inside the camp of 16 Cavilry at Mehswar Chowk Samba. The gunmen managed their entry into the Army Mess, situated near the main gate, where they resorted to heavy indiscriminate firing as troops geared up and retaliated, resulting in fierce gunbattle, officials said. Official sources said that Lt Col Bikramjeet Singh, the second-in- command of the unit stationed at the camp, was among the three slain Army personnel. Army moved in crack commandos and quick action teams inside the camp where TV footages showed tanks moving inside in the hunt for the militants. At least two choppers were pressed into service to keep air surveillance on the movement of militants. At the army camp, gunshots were heard from inside the walled compound. Two officers were seen running out carrying an injured man over their shoulders. "I was inside the dhaba (a roadside eatery) when I saw...
Posted on: Fri, 27 Sep 2013 01:55:46 +0000