M A I N   N E W S

19 ultras shot; 22 kg RDX seized
6 of family killed in Jammu

JAMMU, Oct 29 (UNI, PTI) — Six members of a family, including four children, were massacred in Hiranagar tehsil of Jammu district early today.

Official sources said some persons armed with sophisticated weapons entered Chappa Morh village in Hiranagar and opened fire, killing a family of six.

The family hailing from Madhya Pradesh was working as labourers. The identity of the deceased could not be ascertained.

Senior police and civil officials rushed to the site and launched a combing operation.

Meanwhile, a report from Srinagar said 19 militants, including six foreign mercenaries, and a block president of the ruling National Conference, (NC) were among the 21 persons killed in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, a defence spokesman said today.

The spokesman said six foreign mercenaries belonging to Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM) outfit, including a self-styled district commander, were killed in a fierce encounter with the security forces at Gujjarnar-Chewa in the Safapora area of Baramula district in north Kashmir today.

He said the Army and the Special Operations Group (SOG) had launched a joint operation in the area yesterday which sparked the encounter.

A big cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from the killed militants.

Meanwhile, the security forces foiled an attack by a Fidayeen (suicide squad) on the SOG headquarters at Surankote last night. A militant who was part of the squad was killed during the attack besides a security personnel, official sources said in Jammu.

The militant was identified as Abu Asamah of Lashkar-e-Toiba, (LET) the sources said.

The militants shot dead an NC block president, Mr Ghulam Ahmad Reshi, at Banderpora village in Badgam district of central Kashmir last night.

Meanwhile, three hardcore militants were killed by the security forces in that Banihal area of Doda district, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said two top militants of the LET were gunned down in the Chalwalkot area of Rajouri district by the security forces. In Poonch district, the spokesman said, troops killed two militants at Gulpur and seized 10 grenades and 30 packets of RDX from them last night.

A foreign militant of the LET Abu Abid of Jallalabad (Pakistan) was killed in an encounter with the police and security forces at Dardpora-Lolab in Kupwara district yesterday, the spokesman said.

The security forces also killed a militant at Harain in the Mahore area of Udhampur district today.

The militants also killed a civilian in Banihal last night and injured a civilian inside a shop at Gawkadal in Srinagar yesterday, he added.

Meanwhile, in one of the biggest haul in recent times, army personnel today seized 22 kg of RDX and a huge cache of arms and ammunition in Baramula after the arrest of a top militant, a defence spokesman said. 

The RDX and the arms and ammunition were found inside a cavity of a wall of an abandoned house of a Kashmiri Pandit at Chanderhome near Pattan, he said.

The recovery was made on the basis of revelations made by a top militant Abdul Majid Dar during interrogation.

The spokesman said Dar, nabbed recently, had been controlling the supply of smuggled weapons to various militant outfits in north Kashmir.

The seized arms and ammunition include 12 solar rockets, 11 40-mm rockets, 15 RPG rockets with 20 boosters, 20 timer devices, 19 remote control devices, 13 anti-personnel and anti-tank mines, 200 electric detonators, 31 grenades of various types and six AK-47 rifles.

Meanwhile, three persons including two women were killed and six wounded as Pakistani troops shelled Indian positions in Jammu and Kashmir since last evening, an official spokesman said today.

Two civilians were killed and six others wounded in the shelling in Uri sector in north Kashmir last evening, he said.

One woman was killed after being hit by bullets inside her house in Planwala sector in the Jammu region today, he said.

A BSF jawan was injured in firing from across the border on an outpost in the Samba sub sector along the International Border in Jammu, BSF sources said.

They said Pakistani rangers fired indiscriminately on several areas along the border in Samba and R.S. Pura sub sectors, last night.