Four dead, several injured as suspected terrorists target villagers in J&K's Rajouri

Four civilians were killed and six others injured when suspected terrorists opened fire on three houses of a particular community in a village in Jammu and Kashmir’s border district of Rajouri on Sunday (January 1) evening, officials said.

This was the first such attack in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region and coincided with the first day of the New Year.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh said police, along with the Army and the CRPF, have launched a massive search operation to nab the two armed men behind the attack at Upper Dangri village, about eight kilometres from Rajouri town.

According to police, the firing took place at three houses, separated at a distance of around 50 metres from each other.

Two civilians have succumbed to injuries and four others are injured, Singh said. However, officials said two more injured civilians succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll to four.

Locals told police that two suspected terrorists appeared in the village around 7 pm and opened indiscriminate firing on three houses and fled. The firing ended within 10 minutes. First, they attacked a house in Upper Dangri and then they moved 25 meters away and shot several people there. They also fired on another house 25 meters away from the second house while fleeing the village, an official said.

He said a total of 10 persons were hit by the bullets and three of them were declared dead at the Government Medical College hospital Rajouri, while another critically injured succumbed while being airlifted to Jammu along with two other injured persons.

The deceased have been identified as Satish Kumar (45), Deepak Kumar (23), Pritam Lal (57) and Shishu Pal (32), the official said. The injured have been identified as Pawan Kumar (38), Rohit Pandit (27), Saroj Bala (35), Ridham Sharma (17) and Pawan Kumar (32), he said.

Medical Superintendent of Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri, Dr Mehmood H Bajar, confirmed the death of four persons in the firing and said among the injured, two were airlifted to Jammu for specialised treatment. Deeraj Kumar, sarpanch of Dangri, said gunshots were heard around 7 pm and after some time their intensity increased. “Later, I received calls that there was firing by terrorists,” he added. Kumar said it was after a long time that targeted killings were carried out in the area. He termed the incident as a major security lapse. There was already a threat perception and searches too were conducted in some areas of the district, he added.

Locals stage protest, parties condemn killings  

The incident caused panic and protests were held with several organisations including traders bodies calling for a general strike in the district on Monday. Additional deployments have been made in sensitive areas as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, the officials said. A group of people, who gathered outside GMC hospital Rajouri, shouted slogans against Pakistan and terrorists for the innocent killings. Protesters also shouted slogans against the Lt Governor administration and security agencies for not tackling the threat of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists effectively.

The officials said security forces are conducting a massive search but there was no trace of the assailants so far. The incident comes barely two weeks after two civilians were killed in a firing incident outside an army camp in the town. While the army had blamed unidentified terrorists for killing the two civilians heading for work inside the camp, the local villagers alleged that the duo were killed by the sentries deployed at the gates of the camp and demanded an impartial inquiry into the incident.

Mainstream political parties condemned the attack and directed their barbs at the Centre for failing to provide security to the people of the valley.

“Their tall claims of normalcy is shaken by the incident. They have failed to protect the minority community first in Kashmir and now in Jammu,” a Congress spokesperson said, criticising the administration.

J&K Congress chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma told PTI, “We vehemently condemn the terror attack by Pakistani-backed terrorists against the minority community in Rajouri. It is a conspiracy against them.”

Sharma also demanded ₹50 lakh as compensation to the families of each of the deceased person and best possible treatment to the injured.

J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina condemned the incident and called it an act of “utter cowardice” by Pakistani terrorists and pledged to wipe out them and their supporters from the UT. He said Pakistan and terrorists sponsored by it are trying to show their existence by carrying out these ghastly acts. “Pakistan’s nefarious designs have failed till now and it will be taught a lesson for all its misdeeds,” he said.

The Democratic Azad party also condemned the attack. “I strongly condemn brutal terror attack at Dhangri, Rajouri in which three civilians have been killed,” chief of newly formed DAP Ghulam Nabi Azad said. He said this is an act of cowardice. “My deepest condolences to the families and relatives of the victims, and I wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” he said.

Condemning the attack, former deputy chairman Legislative Council and senior National Conference leader Javed Rana said, “Strongly condemn the attack on civilians in Rajouri. My deepest condolences to the families of the persons who have lost their lives. Wish a speedy recovery to the injured.”

(With inputs from agencies)