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6 ultras killed as they storm Ayodhya temple
Ayodhya, July 5 The driver of the hired vehicle that brought the five terrorists to the site has been arrested. According to policemen present on the spot, none of the six men could be identified, as they carried nothing in their pockets. “All were wearing readymade shirts of local brands which gives away nothing”, said a police officer. The vehicle went up in flames next to the outer barricade near Security Tower No 12 to gain entry into the fortress-like complex. PAC battalion 11 and 14 is presently manning the security in the outer cordon along with the civil police. The security in the inner cordon is the responsibility of the CRPF. The mutilated blood-soaked bodies of the six, as yet unidentified, militants lay in the low-lying bushy terrain behind the Sita ki Rasoi between Security Tower 12 and Security Tower 3. Two of the bodies were lying just next to the inner cordon barely 40 metres behind the sanctum sanctorum. Live grenades and rocket launchers were strewn all over the place. Mr Narendra Prakash, a member of the bomb disposal squad, said the live grenades recovered from an airbag at the spot were strong enough to destroy the sanctum sanctorum even if they had been hurled from inside the outer cordon. After the incident life quickly returned to normal. People could be seen moving around the streets and even children were seen playing. Shops were open though traffic was thin. There were security barricades only at two points, a big improvement from earlier tense occasions when movement was severely restricted. According to eyewitness accounts, the uneasy calm in Ayodhya was shattered by a deafening blast around 9 a.m. when the terrorists blew up the Marshal Economy jeep bearing Faizabad registration number UP 42 T 0618 just in front of the Digambar Jain on Ved Mandir Marg west of Hanumar Garhi. According to eyewitnesses the driver had managed to run away moments before the blast. The body nearest to the blasted vehicle, having its face completely blown away, could be that of a cleaner or assistant driver, claimed a senior policeman on the spot, Manoj Kumar Tiwari. There were two versions regarding the site from where the terrorists entered the complex. While IG PAC Shiljakant Misra said they entered through the huge breach caused by the blast in the barricade, an eyewitness Urmila Pathak claimed to have seen at least two of them climbing a neem tree and jumping inside the barricade before she ran for cover. Another eyewitness Tyagi Nawal Kishore Das, Mahant of the Sitaram Bhawan temple, claimed that the others also jumped into the campus climbing the wall across his temple which is a few metres away from the spot where the jeep was blown up. After the heavy exchange of fire the police succeeded in eliminating all the men who had breached the security cordon.  |
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States alerted as PM appeals for peace New Delhi, July 5 The advisory to the Chief Secretaries and the DGPs was issued by the Union Home Minister after the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this afternoon. The announcement in this regard came minutes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil appealed to leaders of political parties and other organisations not to make any inflammatory statements. Dr Manmohan Singh drew specific attention to maintaining communal harmony, peace and public order. “It is fortunate that the attack was foiled and the attackers killed during the shootout. It is also fortunate that no damage occurred to the physical structures at the site of the incident,” the Prime Minister observed in a statement here. Viewing the attack at Ayodhya as a serious one, the Prime Minister spoke to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav and impressed upon him to take all steps to maintain communal harmony. Even as Dr Manmohan Singh cancelled his trip to Gujarat for an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas in the state this afternoon, he spoke to Chief Minister Narendra Modi, extending all help from the Centre to families affected by the
calamitous floods. “The situation in Ayodhya is normal and there has been no damage to the structure. We have, as a precaution, issued an advisory to all states and union territories to put their law and order machinery on high alert to prevent any individual or organisation from exploiting the situation and trying to create communal tension,” Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal said. The announcement in this regard came minutes after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil appealed to leaders of political parties and other organisations not to make any inflammatory statements. “The situation in Ayodhya is normal and there has been no damage to the structure. I appeal to all such leaders who have been making inflammatory statements aimed at disrupting the communal harmony in the country not to make such statements,” Mr Patil said. Stating that Leader of the Opposition and BJP president L.K. Advani had called him over telephone to find out about the incident this morning, Mr Patil said, “I not only briefed him on the incident, but also reminded him how the Congress had behaved as a responsible Opposition when such attacks had taken place (in Parliament and Akshardham Temple) when the NDA government was in power at the Centre.” The Home Minister hoped that Mr Advani would convey the sentiments to his party leaders and workers for the maintenance of communal harmony and peace in the country. Meanwhile, the Union Home Secretary termed the gunning down of six armed terrorists, who
breached the “outer security cordon”, by the CRPF jawans 500 m away from the sanctum sanctorum as “unqualified success”. He said it was a wonderful operation by the
CRPF jawans, who eliminated all six terrorists using very limited firing, without causing any damage to the temple or to the pilgrims. Mr Duggal, flanked by CRPF Director-General J.K. Sinha, said according to reports reaching here the attackers, in the disguise of devouts, came in a hired jeep and took the security personnel by surprise by blasting the explosive-laden vehicle at the first barricade, which is close to “Sita ki Rasoi”. Subsequently, when the security personnel retaliated, they holed into “Sita ki Rasoi” and it took some time for the joint team of the CRPF, the PAC and the police to eliminate all six terrorists, one of them suspected to be a human bomb, he said. “At the end, it was a successful operation by the security personnel. I feel very satisfied,” Mr Duggal said. The CRPF Director-General, before leaving for Ayodhya this evening, was appreciative of the entire operation and commended his men for showing grit, though he did not rule out the possibility of a relook into the entire security arrangements in Ayodhya Ram Temple complex. “The elimination of all six terrorists, before they could create any damage, is highly praiseworthy and I am going their to pat their backs,” Mr Sinha said. |
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Kalam appeals
for calm New Delhi, July 5 |
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