Jammu, August 1
Four militants and a Captain were killed in a night-long gunbattle between the security forces and militants in Rajouri.

The police said a group of militants stormed the complex housing offices and residences of senior government functionaries at D.C. Colony in the heart of the town last night.

According to Mr S.S. Bajral, DIG, Poonch-Rajouri range, the security forces cordoned off the Bela area soon after the militants hurled grenades and resorted to indiscriminate firing in which a Captain, who was heading troops, was killed on the spot.

The troops and the police first evacuated hundreds of civilians and family members of officers.

The security forces targeted the house from where the militants were attacking them. Three militants were killed in the process. The exchange of fire, though intermittent, continued until this morning. After blowing up another house from where a militant was firing, the security forces carried out search operations and found bodies of four slain militants.

For more than 10 hours, the movement of passenger transport and civilians was restricted. More than six mortars were fired by the troops to destroy the hideouts of the militants. The police said the terrorists had swooped on the colony with the aim of a massacre of senior government officials and their family members.

Senior police officers rushed to the spot from Jammu and ordered additional deployment of security personnel.

It was for the first time during the past 10 years that the terrorists had targeted this high-security zone in Rajouri.