Militants loot bank, decamp with Rs 5.20 lakhs
Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, July 31: Army foiled a major infiltration attempt in Torna area of Rampur sector in Uri, North Kashmir and killed one infiltrator so far while massive searches for other members of the group are going on. Meanwhile, militants today looted a bank in Anantnag district of South Kashmir.
Sources said that 21-Sikh regiment deployed in the forward areas of Torna noticed movement of an infiltrating group on July 27 and launched massive operation. The Army patrol had a brief gun battle with the militants but they managed to flee that area. However, during the searches one body was recovered and the army also recovered AK-47 , 5 magazines, Hand grenades, pouches and dry food.
The searches are going on as the Army felt that more militants are hiding in the area which has dense forests and rugged terrain.
Army sources said that there are over 250 militants waiting on the launch pads in PoK near the LoC and they want to sneak in the summer. Army has intensified its vigil along the LoC to prevent them from infiltrating. Army is conducting round the clock patrolling along the LoC to foil the infiltration attempts of the militants.
Security forces this year achieved major successes against militants and killed 118 militants so far. Last year they had killed a record 150 militants.
Security forces said that there are 266 militants operating in Kashmir with 110 in South Kashmir, which is worst affected by militancy. Out of these militants nearly 100 are locals while in North Kashmir majority of the militants are Pakistanis who have infiltrated into Kashmir by crossing the LoC.
And after gap of two months, militants today resorted to bank robbery and decamped with a cash amount of over Rs 5 lakh from Arwani branch of Jammu and Kashmir Bank in Bijbehara area of Anantnag district.
Around 12:40 pm, a group of four Hizbul Mujahideen militants, who had boarded an Alto Car, stopped outside the Arwani branch of J&K Bank. They said while two militants stayed outside the bank, rest others armed with one AK 47 rifle and one INSAS rifle barged into the J&K Bank branch where they asked officials to handover cash.
Interestingly, both the militants had donned a veil, locally called Burqa, and after looting the cash on gun-point, they also ransacked the computers of the bank branch. Police said that militants fled with around Rs 5.20 lakh amount. A police spokesman said that a case has been registered and investigation was set into motion.
He said that during the initial investigation and with the help of CCTV footage, it was found that Hizbul Mujahideen militants are involved in the crime. “Efforts are on to nab the culprits,” he added. Soon after police were informed about the heist, they along with other security forces rushed to spot and questioned the bank officials and other witnesses.
The security forces also launched a manhunt in Arwani area to nab the militants but the latter had already managed to escape. During searches, no one was, however, detained by security men. The militants since last year October have looted more than a dozen banks in South and Central Kashmir districts and decamped with cash worth lakhs to overcome cash crunch.
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