Srinagar, October 6
Barely hours before the elections in six constituencies of Doda district, an Independent candidate from the Bhaderwah segment escaped a bid on his life when militants attacked his motorcade with automatic weapons this afternoon. In other incidents, three militants were killed in the Doda area and two Armymen shot down in Rajouri district today.

Elsewhere in the state, eight persons, including a nambardar (panchayat official), were killed while militants triggered a blast at Sogam in the Lolab constituency going to the polls on Tuesday.

An official spokesman said militants attacked the cavalcade of Mr A.H. Wani, an Independent candidate from the Bhaderwah constituency during electioneering in the segment.

However, there was no loss of life in the attack. Unidentified gunmen killed two persons at Bandipora in north Kashmir district of Baramula late last night.

The spokesman said gunmen entered the house of Shamsuddin Khan at Bandipora and fired upon the inmates with automatic weapons, killing Khan and another person identified as Ghulam Mohammad Khan.

Another inmate, Barkat-ullah Khan, was critically injured in the attack and has been hospitalised.

The assailants later managed to escape.

Militants gunned down a nambardar, Riaz Hussain, at his residence in Lower Manghari under Gursai police station in Poonch district of the Jammu region late last night, the spokesman said.

Militants triggered a powerful blast in the office of the block development officer (BDO) at Sogam in the Lolab assembly segment, causing damage to the building.

However, no one was injured in the blast.

A militant of the Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) surrendered before the authorities along with an AK 47 rifle, four magazines, 100 rounds and one hand grenade at Kishtwar in Doda district of the Jammu region last night.

DODA: Three terrorists were killed and one wounded in an encounter with security forces in the Ghaie forest area, about 30 km from here, on Sunday.

Terrorists attacked a police party which had reached the spot for security for the polling on October 8.

Doda town was rocked with the explosion of a grenade in the shopping area this morning. However, no one was injured.

Terrorists have stepped up their activity in an effort to scare the voters.

Reports from Banihal said terrorists were threatening people not to vote.

JAMMU: Two Armymen were killed and three others wounded when militants fired on two vans carrying security forces at Thanamandi in Rajouri district on Sunday. One woman was also wounded in the shootout.

The police said men of the Rashtriya Rifles and the SSB had gone to the Sharda Sharif shrine in Rajouri to partake of the langar. The securitymen were returning to their camps when they were ambushed by a group of militants at Thanamandi.

In the indiscriminate firing, two Armymen were killed and three others wounded.

Pakistani troops fired more than a dozen mortar and artillery shells from across the border in the sector, targeting civilian areas and security installations last evening.

They said four head of cattle were killed and several houses damaged in the shelling.

People shifted to underground bunkers as soon as shelling started from across the border.

Under the deal worth about $ 70 million (Rs 350 crore), New Delhi has begun to receive the first of these 1,022 Man-Portable radars, which are capable of detecting human targets 10 km away, according to Defence Ministry officials here.

Though India has already inducted these radars in some parts of the LoC, the decision to go in for bulk purchase was taken after the Army reported a big spurt in the detections of infiltrations following the use of these new sensors.

Officials said the deal with Israel company EL-OP was for both shorter range, 3,000 to 4,000m Man-Portable radars, and long range observance and reconaissance systems, after bids by French electronic giant Thales and Sagem were rejected.

However, officials said the negotiations for other form of close range sensor detectors with the USA were still going on. “We are evaluating the US offer made directly by Pentagon”, they said, adding that India might opt for the US systems as well.

Officials said the deal with Israel also covered acquisition of 600 Elbit thermal-imaging-stand-alone systems to equip the Indian army’s 300 T-72 main battle tanks and 300 Russian BMP II armoured personnel carriers.

Along with the Man-Portable radars, India has also signed a deal to acquire eight more Israeli Searcher-II unmanned air vehicles (UAVs) for deployment in Jammu and Kashmir mountainous region to monitor cross border activity.