M A I N   N E W S

Rajouri residents completely shaken
M.L. Kak
Tribune News Service

Rajouri, March 3
Anger and anxiety were writ large on the faces of people in this border town following the killing of 14 policemen and four civilians in two separate militancy-related incidents yesterday.

The town and its adjoining areas wore a deserted look following a total bandh observed by the people in protest against the killing.

Mr Sat Pal, a villager, feels depressed, “If such a fate can await well-equipped policemen, what will happen to us?” he says. This feeling found echo when this correspondent talked to several residents of the town. They were annoyed over the non-initiation of combat operations against the militants. They said that militancy related violence in Rajouri, Poonch and other parts of the state had escalated after the ceasefire declared by the Prime Minister.

Police teams were busy retrieving five bodies which had charred inside the Matador that was torched by the militants. In all, 14 policemen and two employees of the medical department had been killed when militants using Pika guns, rockets and grenades ambushed the vehicle carrying 24 policemen and two civilians near Manjakot. Nine persons were wounded. Of them, three were shifted to Jammu Medical College as their condition was critical.

In another incident, two civilians — one Public Health Engineering employee and a panch — were killed by the militants at Gambir Moghla in this troubled district.

The police team had been sent from Manjakot station along with two medical attendants to provide security to the relatives for burying the two civilians killed at Gambir Moghla. The two medical employees were to perform the post-mortem of the slain civilians.

On their return, the militants ambushed the Matador and killed 14 policemen and two civilians within five minutes. The Matador driver was hit by a Pika gun bullet and he died on the spot. The Matador hit a curve and stopped. Militants resorted to heavy fire and launched grenade and rocket attacks. Some policemen jumped out of the Matador and three of them were killed after they were hit by a rain of bullets. Five were wounded and trapped inside the Matador. Militants descended from the nearby hilltops and torched the vehicle in which five policemen were roasted alive.

While people, irrespective of their party affiliation and faith, were shocked, the police authorities were highly surcharged over the incident. The Director-General of Police, Mr A.K. Suri, accompanying the acting Chief Minister, Mr Ghulam Mohiuddin Shah, visited this town this morning.

He told newsmen, “We will retaliate.” He said that the carnage was committed by activists of the Lashkar-e-Toiba who had not responded positively to the ceasefire.

Some of the policemen, carrying the bodies of their colleagues, were in tears. One of them shouted, “Khoon ka badla khoon sey lengay”.

Those manning the intelligence agencies in this district said the militants had laid a trap for the police party. They explained that the rebels knew that a police party would visit Gambir Moghla where two civilians had been killed. The militants took position around the road and reacted as soon as the Matador reached near a bridge.

Using Pika guns, rockets, projectile guns and grenades, the militants did not give any time to the police to retaliate, though a couple of policemen opened fire. However, the DIG, Rajouri range, Mr Ram Lubaya, and the DGP, Mr A.K. Suri, claim that their men engaged the rebels in an encounter for a couple of hours.

One version prevalent near the hospital where some of the injured were admitted was that some armymen had suggested to the police not to return by the Matador, but walk to Manjakot police station. This suggestion was given because militants had threatened the police that if they visited Gambir Moghla, they would be killed.