New Delhi: The two terrorists killed in an overnight encounter in Jammu’s Kathua had gone door-to-door asking for water, the police have said, which resulted in them raising an alarm and subsequently drawing in security forces.
The police said the terrorists, who looked as if they had freshly crossed over, panicked when villagers of Saida shut their doors on their faces, while some began yelling. The terrorists fired randomly in the air, and injured Omkar Nath in the arm.
By this time, local officers from the Hira Nagar station had rushed to the spot, but the terrorists fled to the neighbouring village of Sukhal. One of them was soon killed here while trying to lob a grenade at security forces.
The second terrorist, who managed to escape from the Sukhal village, was killed on Wednesday morning.
A CRPF jawan has also died of injuries sustained in the gunfight.
Sources in the security establishment told ThePrint that recoveries made from one of the militants suggested they could have just been passing by the villages, where they felt thirsty.
Jammu Zone Additional Director General of Police Anand Jain said the two militants, who suddenly “surfaced” in the Saida Sukhal villages on Tuesday evening, were believed to have infiltrated recently.
A Jammu and Kashmir Police officer said the duo first entered Saida village around 7.30 pm and were met with protests when they sought water.
This led to a scuffle, the officer said, in which a grenade exploded creating a loud noise and alerting security forces who rushed in in 20 minutes.
A senior officer said: “The militants first appeared in Saida village at 7.30 and they escaped to the neighbouring Sukhal as officers began to cordon off the area. They managed to do so because it’s a huge forested region. Search operations were intensified in Sukhal after that.”
Another police officer privy to the developments said that two more militants were seen in the area during the morning hours of Wednesday as search went on for the second terrorist. “Two militants were eliminated while another two might have fled,” an officer said.
The CRPF constable, who died around 3.30 am Wednesday at a local hospital, was Kabir Dass of the 121 Battalion.
‘Longer stay’ and a murder
Sources in the security establishment said the police recovered Rs 1 lakh, medicines manufactured in Pakistan and a handset with antenna which suggested the terrorists were in for a longer stay in Jammu and Kashmir.
They further said a US-made M4 series carbine was recovered from the second militant eliminated on Wednesday.
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Officers indicated there are six terrorists of foreign origin operating in Kathua at this time and it could be possible that they were not looking to launch an attack on the Kathua villagers.
“Earlier, infiltrators would come to Kashmir via road from Kathua, but some of them are now staying back and launching attacks in Jammu. They are renewing their infiltration through the Samba-Kathua region and it’s a challenge,” an intelligence source said.
Another officer told ThePrint that a resident of Mela village, situated just 3 km from Saida, was found dead with his throat slit a few days ago. While the police treated it as a case of murder, intelligence officials have now hinted that the victim Amarjit Sharma could have spotted militants infiltrating into Kathua, which probably led to his killing.
He said: “The border area is less than 10 km and the infiltration through this area has been a problem for many years. This looks like another infiltration that went right until their thirst spoiled their plans of a longer stay.”
The Doda attack
While security forces combed Kathua looking for the second terrorist, another batch of militants pounced on a temporary operating base run by the army and the police in Doda on Tuesday night.
As of now, five soldiers and one special police officer are confirmed to have been injured in the attack, which is the third in as many days in the Jammu zone.
Tuesday’s twin terror strikes came just a couple of days after a pilgrim bus was attacked in Jasmmu’s Reasi district which led to the deaths of nine pilgrims and injured 42.
An offshoot of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, Kashmir Tigers has taken responsibility for Doda while intelligence officers said Jaish is behind Kathua as well.
Commenting on the three attacks, ADG Jain told the media: “It is our hostile neighbour who always tries to damage the peaceful environment in our country.”
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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