Securitymen engage militants in Samba Saturday. (Source: PTI) Securitymen engage militants in Samba Saturday. (Source: PTI)

In a second terrorist incident in the Jammu region in 24 hours, two gunmen in military fatigues tried to storm the Army camp at Maheshwar near Samba Saturday morning, but were killed by soldiers.

The militants appeared to have been part of a group, two of whose members attacked the Rajbagh police station on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway on Friday, killing two CRPF personnel, a police constable and two civilians.

Sources said the Jammu and Kashmir police found four Pathan suits and some packets of dry fruit in the bushes at Hariyachak nursery close to the International Border, suggesting that a group of four militants had changed into military uniforms after crossing over, and had then split into groups of two each to carry out back-to-back attacks.

The Army denied knowledge of the discovery of the clothes and dry fruit, which is usually part of provisions carried by militants aiming to take hostages or anticipating long standoffs with security forces. The police have also picked up two men from the area, identified as Gulab Hussain and Ayub, for questioning.

Samba Brigade Commander Brig R S Rana said the militants opened fire on a sentry post at 5.45 am Saturday, but the alert sentry retaliated, forcing them to take positions in a civilian building nearby. Quick Reaction Teams of the Army then launched a surgical operation, eliminating both gunmen without any military or civilian casualty.

Civilian Pappu Yadav of Uttar Pradesh, who was initially reported to have been injured, was in fact, hurt after he fell off his bicycle in panic, Brig Rana said, adding that Yadav had not sustained any bullet or splinter injury.

The Army had not, however, called off the operation until evening, and searches continued to be in progress. “We want to clear the area to rule out the possibility of any other terrorist hiding in the thick vegetation,” the officer said.

The Army has recovered two syringes with Pakistan markings, besides arms, ammunition and explosives from the slain gunmen.

In New Delhi, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the Samba attack was a desperate attempt by militants to boost their own morale which has been on the decline after the Army cracked down on infiltration. He said 26 militants have been killed by the Army this year.

The two attacks over Friday and Saturday sent shock waves through Hindu-dominated districts of Kathua, Samba and Jammu. Most shops and business establishments along the national highway were shut Saturday, the first day of navratra. No civilian vehicle was allowed on the highway until evening.

While J&K Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed had blamed Friday’s terrorist attack on “non-state actors”, his Health Minister, Choudhary Lal Singh, said Saturday the attacks had shown that the time was not right to begin the process of lifting the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).

“How is it possible when the situation has worsened even in the otherwise peaceful districts of Kathua and Samba?” Lal Singh, who belongs to the BJP, asked. It was time to give “them” a befitting reply, he said.

The minister said detailed background checks must be done on people living along the International Border. “We have received complaints from some local people,” he said. “It is not possible for terrorists to cross over to this side of the border and straightway proceed to the national highway to carry out attacks.”

“We need to find out from where and how they are managing to infiltrate, and after infiltration, whether they have safe hideouts for brief stays before carrying out attacks,” Lal Singh said.

He, however, backed talks with Pakistan. “It appears that the terror groups carrying out attacks on Indian soil are so powerful that they are not under the control of the Pakistan government,” he said.

The Congress hit out at both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Sayeed. “The two consecutive attacks by militants is the direct fallout of the chief minister playing footsie with Pakistan, separatists and militants, and the failure of Prime Minister Modi in reining in Mufti,” Congress Legislature Party leader Nawang Rigzin Jora said in Jammu, PTI reported.

“Emboldened by his (Mufti’s) statement immediately after the swearing-in where he thanked Pakistan, separatists and Hurriyat, the militants are now striking at will,” Jora said. “The BJP which had all along claimed to be the sole guardian of the national interest, needing no lesson from anybody, as was claimed by the Prime Minister in Parliament, watches haplessly and helplessly.”

Jammu & Kashmir Pradesh Congress Committee president Ghulam Ahmed Mir said the BJP had “compromised on national interest for the sake of sharing power in the politically supersensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir”. He described the PDP-BJP coalition as an “unholy bonhomie”.

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