M A I N   N E W S

11 of family shot in Bihar

SIWAN (Bihar), Oct 14 (PTI) — In a fresh outbreak of caste-related violence, 11 members of a Yadav family were mowed down by unidentified gunmen at Mujahipur village in the district sparking off communal tension in the area.

State Director-General of Police K.A. Jacob said heavily armed marauders swooped on the village late last night and rained bullets on the inmates of a house killing 11 of them, including a female child.

Two persons suffered gunshot injuries in the attack. One of them was admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital in a critical condition, Mr Jacob said.

The involvement of assailants of a minority community was suspected in the carnage, which was officially described as a fallout of a prolonged battle of supremacy between two rival groups over the occupation of a plot of land belonging to Dhanauti Math, which is near Mujahipur.

Mr Jacob said two additional companies of central paramilitary personnel were deployed at the carnage site.

Three Yadavas of the same village had been killed a few days ago by unidentified assailants and subsequently, two Muslims were killed here on October 12 in a retaliatory strike.

As tension ran high, senior police officials, including the DIG (police) and the SP were camping at the spot to oversee the situation. A combing operation has been launched to arrest the killers by sealing the entry and exit points of Siwan.

Official sources said the police had seized an AK-47 rifle, a gun, a carbine and rounds of ammunition when it took into custody five suspected criminals after conducting a search at Dhanauti on October 7.

They said the criminals allegedly belonging to a group locked in a war of attrition for the occupation of the disputed land of the math, had taken shelter at Dhanauti to plan a carnage.

Chief Minister Rabri Devi and RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav have expressed concern over the massacre and directed the authorities to immediately arrest the culprits.

5 securitymen killed in J & K

SRINAGAR, Oct 14 (PTI) — Five security personnel, including a BSF Sub-Inspector and two militants, were among eight persons killed and six security men wounded in separate militancy-related incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening.

Six persons, including a militant, were arrested by security forces who also unearthed a big cache of arms and ammunition in the state during the period, an official spokesman said here today.

Meanwhile, a hardcore militant facing trial in the killing of Munshi Qudrutullah, a National Conference leader, in July this year, escaped from the high-security Kishtwar jail yesterday.

The militant, Akhter Hussain of Ganika village (Doda) was lodged in Kishtwar jail after being arrested by police soon after the killing of Qudrutullah, an official spokesman said.

He said police had launched a search to apprehend the militant.

Two Army jawans were killed and three others received gun-shot wounds in an ambush by militants at Sumblar in the Bandipora area of Baramula district last evening.