*Train, vehicular traffic remain suspended *LeT Pakistani cadre behind attack
Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Mar 28: In another major terror attack, which was being anticipated by various security and Intelligence agencies in run up to the Parliament elections, three Pakistani fidayeen struck at Tarnah bridge at Dayala Chak near Hiranagar in Kathua district early today, hijacked a Bolero along with driver after killing a passenger and injuring three others, travelled about 19 kilometers on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway and killed the Bolero driver before striking at an Army camp at Janglot in which an Army soldier and all three militants, believed to be Pakistanis, were killed while another jawan was injured. Entire operation lasted about 12 hours.
The militants killed the Bolero driver by putting a cloth in his mouth and abandoned the vehicle at Sahar Khud before opening fire at the Army camp at Janglot. However, alert troops didn’t allow the militants to enter inside the camp and engaged them in firing outside killing all of them during nearly 12 hours long operation, which was declared close at 6.30 pm.
Contrary to September 26, 2013 attack, police authorities had today alerted all Army, police and other security installations about movement of the militants, leading to alertness, which was the reason that the militants failed to storm Army or police camp or any other sensitive instalation.
Train and vehicular traffic remained suspended on Jammu-Pathankote route during the day to avoid civilian casualties as the firing between Army and the militants was going on close to the Highway. Train traffic was restored at 3.50 pm while vehicular movement on the Highway was resumed at 6.30 pm after entire road was sanitized.
The terror attack comes just two days after BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressed a massive rally at Hiranagar and a little over six months after an almost similar strike at Hiranagar police station in Kathua district and Mehsar Army camp in Samba in which 13 persons including an Army officer and three fidayeens were killed.
The terror attack, which also came just few days ahead of Lok Sabha elections scheduled for April 10 in Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat and April 17 in Udhampur-Doda constituency, baffled security and Intelligence agencies as the security personnel were maintaining high alert on the borders. Though official sources were tightlipped about route taken by the militants, the possibility that they might have sneaked inside from the International Border, which was eight kilometers from the National Highway, is not ruled out.
The indication of infiltration by the militants from the IB was given by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who tweeted that BSF needs to take look at vulnerable spots and plug them.
Additional DG BSF airdashed here to supervise the operation and review the situation. He chaired a high level security review meeting of the senior officers.
The terror attack has once again exposed the “alertness’’ of security forces and police as the militants travelled about 19 kilometers on the National Highway in hijacked Bolero from Tarnah bridge to Janglot in Kathua district and about eight kilometers from International Border to the Highway if they had sneaked from the border.
Official and Intelligence sources apart from eyewitnesses told the Excelsior that three Pakistani terrorists (members of Pakistan based outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba’s suicide squad), all of whom were believed to be Pakistanis and were in Army fatigues appeared at Tarnah bridge at Dayala Chak near Hiranagar in Kathua district at 4.47 am and intercepted Bolero SUV bearing registration No. 7670 JK21A, which was on way from Thandi Khui in Vijaypur to Beas in Punjab carrying ‘Sevadars’.
‘Utro’ (get down) was just one word uttered by one of the three fidayeens to the passengers travelling in Bolero. The militants held back the driver and opened firing on four passengers when they started fleeing, killing one of them on spot and injuring three others. The killed passenger has been identified as Amarjeet Singh son of late Jensi Ram, a resident of Ward No. 4, Vijaypur
The militants, who were heavily armed with automatic rifles and explosive devices, took the driver at gun point, crossed major towns like Chadwal, Rajbagh, Chan Arorian, Barnoti and Palli etc breaching several police installations and nakas before reaching Sahar Khud at Janglot around 7 am.
The militants abandoned the Bolero about one kilometer short of the Army unit and took the Bolero driver to an isolated place at Sahar Khud, tied his hands and legs, put a cloth in his mouth and slit his throat, leading to his death. Sources said the militants didn’t open firing at the driver as it would have alerted the Army unit in the area. Police seized the abandoned vehicle and recovered the body of driver from near a Nullah. Slain Bolero driver has been identified as, Tarsem Singh of Kotli, RS Pura.
Sources said the militants opened firing at the Army unit at Janglot after taking position at three separate places around 7 am and tried to storm inside the camp by opening firing. However, the alert Sentry and Army personnel retaliated and didn’t allow the militants to sneak into their camp.
The exchange of firing between the Army, CRPF and police with the militants continued for nearly 12 hours. While two militants were killed at 1 pm, their third associate continued to fight till late this afternoon. In a massive assault, the troops killed the third militant around 6 pm bringing to an end about 12 hours long operation. In the process, Army lost one of its soldiers identified as Lance Naik V Antony, a resident of Nirmal Bridge, Chennai, while another identified as Havaldar Pradeep Kumar jawan was injured.
Army pressed helicopters into service to identify exact location of the militants. Several times, the helicopters flew very low over Janglote and assisted the troops in spotting the militants, leading to their elimination before the night. Sources said the Army wanted to finish the operation before the night as darkness would have given lone surviving militant a chance to escape. However, the troops succeeded in their plan.
Like September 26 attack, Al Shahooda Brigade of Lashkar-e-Toiba has claimed responsibility for the fidayeen attack. Sources said though identity of the slain militants hasn’t been established, they visibly appeared to be Pakistanis.
Briefing reporters at Kathua after all three fidayeens were eliminated, Inspector General of Police, Jammu Zone Rajesh Kumar said the 12 hours long operation ended with the killing of all three fidayeens.
He said the militants surfaced at Tarnah bridge around 5 am and hijacked Bolero after killing one of the passengers and then also killed the driver near Janglote before firing at the Army camp. He added that Army, CRPF and police displayed quick response and gunned down the fidayeens before they could inflict much damage.
Replying to a question on infiltration of the militants, Mr Kumar said: “this was subject matter of investigations. Whether the militants infiltrated last night or earlier and whether they had come from elsewhere would be part of the investigations. We will investigate everything’’.
Asked whether the militants could be part of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit, Mr Kumar gave the similar reply saying it too was part of investigations.
He added that police had sounded alert all along the National Highway and major installations of Army, other security forces and police soon after the militant attack came to the light, which prevented the major damage as the militants were unable to sneak into the Army camp.
The IGP said the militants were heavily equipped with modern weaponry and eatable. Recoveries made from three slain militants included three AK rifles, three pistols, 18 magazines, a large quantity of hand grenades, four pre-prepared Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and eatables.
The militants had emptied a number of magazines of AK and pistols and used several grenades in their attempt to force their entry in the Army camps but failed due to alertness of the troops.
The militants, sources said, had come with a view to prolong the encounter, which was evident from the huge ammunition they were carrying. However, they failed in their plot.
Meanwhile, three civilians, who were shot at and injured by the militants at Tarnah bridge, have been identified as Kamaljit Singh son of Prem Nath (gun shot on right leg), Gurpreet Singh son of Satnam Singh (gun shot on thigh, leg and chest) and Sahib Singh son of Santokh Singh (gun shot on chest), all residents of district Gurdaspur in Punjab.
Condition of Gurpreet Singh was stated to be critical. He was operated upon in the Government Medical College, Jammu, where he was shifted from Tarnah bridge.
One of the injured told the Excelsior that the driver stopped the vehicle presuming the militants as genuine Army personnel as all three were in Army fatigues. He said he realised that all three persons were militants when they opened firing.
Body of the civilian Amarjeet Singh of Ward No. 4, Vijaypur, who was killed in the firing at Tarnah bridge, was handed over to his family members this afternoon after post-mortem. He was cremated at his native town. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare and Congress candidate from Udhampur-Doda constituency Ghulam Nabi Azad, his BJP rival Dr Jitendra Singh, NC leader Surjit Singh Slathia, Congress leader Manjit Singh and several prominent persons joined the cremation.
Body of slain driver Tarsem Singh of Kotli, RS Pura would be cremated tomorrow while body of Army jawan V Antony would be flown to Chennai with full military honours tomorrow.
Today’s terror attack was virtually a replica of September 26, 2013 attack though the number of casualties was more than double in that attack. Thirteen persons including four Army jawans, one of them a Lieutenant Colonel, four police personnel, two civilians and three fidayeens were killed in the previous attack while today six persons including two civilians, an Army soldier and three fidayeens were killed.
In September 26 attack, the militants had travelled right from the International Border to Hiranagar police station, killed four police jawans and two civilians there, hijacked a truck, travelled over 20 kilometers to reach Mehsar Army camp at Samba, intruded into the Army camp and killed four soldiers including Second-in-Command of 16 Cavalry Unit.
Today also, the militants travelled nearly 19 kilometers distance on Jammu-Pathankote National Highway in hijacked Bolero from Tarnah bridge at Dayala Chak to Janglote without being intercepted at any of the nakas in a free for all situation and, in the process, crossing important towns and nakas like Chadwal, Rajbagh, Chan Arorian, Barnoti and Palli etc.
“If it was presumed that the militants had crossed from Pakistan through the International Border, they would have trekked another distance of about eight kilometers on foot for two to three hours to reach National Highway,’’ sources said, adding “the situation was almost similar to the one witnessed in September 26, 2013 excepting the fact that authorities this time sounded all major installations, a result of which the militants failed to enter any of the camps, thus, minimizing the casualties from the previous time.
Worthwhile to mention here that BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is facing serious threats from the terrorists, had addressed a rally at Hiranagar only two days back. Sources didn’t rule out the possibility that the militants might have planned to target the rally but failed due to tight security arrangements then and struck when the security was very less or negligible.
The network of India Mujahideen busted by the Delhi Police in Rajasthan was also planning to target Modi apart from the general elections.
Sources admitted that the militants were Pakistanis and cadre of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit though they didn’t carry anything, which could establish their identity or outfit. The photographs, tactics of fighting and heavy weaponry and other techniques adopted by the militants indicated that they were Pakistan cadre of the LeT outfit.
Though official sources were silent about the infiltration route of the militants, reliable sources said Tarnah bridge was directly linked to the International Border (IB) with a distance of about eight kilometers and the possibility of the militants having crossed over into Indian side from the IB through Pakistan can’t be ruled out.
Soon after the report of the terror attack, authorities ordered suspension of train traffic on Jammu-Pathankote route and vehicular movement on the National Highway to avert civilian casualties. Train traffic was restored at 3.50 pm, as a result many trains reached and departed late by several hours. Train traffic returned to normal late in the evening.
Several vehicles remained stranded on Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, sources said, adding nearly 50,000 passengers of trains and buses remained stranded on either side due to suspension of train and passenger traffic. Traffic on the Highway was restored around 6 pm.
IGP Jammu Rajesh Kumar, DIG Jammu-Kathua Shakeel Beig, SSP Kathua Mohan Lal, Additional SP Kathua Yogesh Sharma and SDPO Border Diwakar Singh supervised the operation. After receiving first call of terror attack, Yogesh Sharma sounded all installations and the PCR to prevent the militants from intruding inside any camp.
Army spokesman Col Manish Mehta said: “the Army and JKP successfully eliminated three terrorists in about 11 hours long operations’’. He said one Army soldier was killed and another injured in the operation apart from two civilians while Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs) eliminated three terrorists, who were heavily armed and were carrying four pre prepared IEDs.
Sources said the Intelligence agencies had already sounded that the militants could strike ahead of Parliamentary elections in Jammu and Kashmir. However, still enough precautions hadn’t been taken by various security agencies to prevent the attack and the casualties that took place.
During 2002 Assembly elections also, the militants had infiltrated from Hiranagar and reached the National Highway killing about a dozen civilians before being eliminated.
On May 11, 2009, the militants had reached Samba in which eight civilians including Excelsior Chief Photographer Ashok Sodhi and political leader Hoshiar Singh.
On May 14, 2002, the militants had struck at Army family quarters at Kaluchak killing 36 security personnel, their family members and others. Two fidayeen attacks had also taken place at Raghunath temple in 2003.
Meanwhile, a lesser-known militant outfit ‘Al Shohada Brigade’, believed to be a shadow outfit of Lashker-e -Taiba terror outfit, today claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
A ‘spokesperson’ of the outfit called some news organisations in Srinagar and claimed the responsibility for the attack.
The outfit’s name was first circulated on September 26 last year when it claimed the responsibility for twin attacks on police station in Hiranagar and an Army camp in Samba.
However, after the militants were killed, it was clearly established by the police that the suicide attackers belonged to banned Lashker-e-Taiba terror group.
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