(MENAFN- Kashmir Observer) Family members mourn near mortal remains of four civilians, who were gunned down by unidentified men on Sunday evening, in Dhangri area of Rajouri. Photo: PTI
Minor Siblings Among 6 killed Within 14 Hours, Protests In Many Areas
DGP Announces To Revive, Rearm VDCs; NIA Begins Investigation
Jammu- In an apparent security lapse, two cousins – aged four and 16 – were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in a village in Jammu's Rajouri area on Monday, 14 hours after militants had shot dead four people there.
The terrorists, locals claimed, had planted the IED on Sunday itself and it was missed during the scanning by police and security officials who had cordoned off the area after the shootings last evening.
Samiksha Sharma (16) and Vihan Kumar Sharma (4) were killed and six others injured in the blast in Dangri village near the house of Pritam Lal, a victim of the Sunday attack, locals said. There were several people, including Lal's relatives, in the house when the blast took place at around 9.30 am. Six persons were killed and 12 injured in the two incidents.
Village Sarpanch (headman) Deepak Kumar said that it was a serious security lapse on the part of police and security agencies.
“It is a serious security lapse by security agencies. Minority community people do not feel secure. The administration should take tough measures,” he told reporters in Rajouri.
As the incidents led to protests across the district, including in Rajouri town, and a complete shutdown, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh, who visited the site, said that the IED blast was intended to target senior officers who were about to reach there.
“The IED blast was a planned attack aimed at targeting senior officers (who were to reach the site). The officers reached the spot late. The incident had happened already,” Singh told reporters in Rajouri.
“We will have to give them a befitting reply,” he said.
He announced that village defence committees (VDCs) will now be revived and rearmed, after some protesting leaders and locals claimed that the incident could have been averted had the authorities not taken away the weapons of VDCs.
Senior J-K BJP leader and former MLC Vibodh Gupta alleged that 60 per cent of guns of VDCs have been taken back.
The DGP also met the protesters who were refusing to conduct the last rites of the victims.
The VDCs were first set up in the mid-1990s in the Chenab Valley area of Jammu to arm and train villagers to defend against Pakistan-sponsored militants and comprise villagers as well as Special Police Officers (SPOs).
Officials said a team of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) also reached Dangri village for an investigation
Medical Superintendent of Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri Mehmood H. Bajar confirmed the death of four persons in the firing incident.
“The improvised explosive device (IED) was planted beneath a bag,” Additional Director General of Police, Jammu, Mukesh Singh told reporters in Rajouri.
The army and police are conducting a massive search operation, the senior police officer, who reached the spot along with Jammu-Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar, said.
He said that locals have reported that two militants are involved in the attack.
DGP Dilbag Singh, who reached the attack site in Rajouri,“I came because it was more important to be in solidarity with the families. So instead of heading to Kashmir, I came straight away. Do not forget this incident. There may be more IEDs as well.”
The DGP also reached the protest site and said that the people of Rajouri have bravely fought terrorism in the past.“I am sad over the killings. It is a matter of grief. It is time to give a boost to VDCs”.
“No guns will be taken away..., if some guns have been taken away, they will be returned (to VDCs) and and more guns will be provided if needed,” he said.
“Let us not disrespect the bodies and conduct cremation of the bodies,” he urged the protesters.
The injured in the Monday incident- Kanaya Sharma (14), Vanshu Sharma (15), Samiksha Devi (20), Sharda Devi (38), Kamlesh Devi (55) and Samiksha Sharma – were admitted to the hospital.
On Sunday's attack, Singh said two militants fired on three houses in which four people were killed and six injured. The condition of the injured is stable, he said.
These are the first such incidents in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region.
Village Sarpanch (headman) Deepak Kumar said that it was a serious security lapse on the part of police and security agencies.
“It is a serious security lapse by security agencies. Minority community people do not feel secure. The administration should take tough measures,” he told reporters in Rajouri.
Protesters carried the bodies of those killed in Sunday's attack in a procession and kept them at Dongri Chowk.
They demanded that Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha should come to meet them so that they can put their demands before him.
Several senior administration and police officials tried to persuade the protesters to conduct the last rites of the victims but in vain.
The protesters said that if the LG does not come to them by this evening, they will not cremate the bodies till Union Home Minister Amit Shah meets them.
In Jammu, protests against Pakistan were held by VHP, Bajrang Dal, Mission Statehood, Shiv Sena and Dogra Front.
Massive Operation Underway: Police
Security forces on Monday intensified a cordon-and-search operation by inducting additional personnel to track down two suspected militants involved in an attack on a particular community in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district.
“The cordon-and-search operation has been intensified. It was resumed this morning and additional troops have been inducted,” a senior police officer told PTI.
On the hunt for the suspected militants, the officer said army, police, special operation group and Central Reserve Police Force personnel are involved in the cordon-and-search operation. Drones and sniffer dogs have also been deployed, the officials said.
Security has been beefed up in view of the attack in Rajouri, where there is a complete shut down in protest against the killings.
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