Nagpur, June 1
A major attempt to attack the RSS headquarters here was foiled when three heavily-armed militants were shot dead in an encounter with the police while trying to enter the heavily-guarded sprawling premises in the wee hours today.RSS chief K.S. Sudharshan was not present at the headquarters when the militants dressed as police Sub-Inspectors and travelling in a white Ambassador car with a red beacon light tried to pass through the barricade but were challenged by policemen deployed there.
The police suspects that the militants belong to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. Three AK-56 rifles, 5 kg of RDX and 14 hand grenades were recovered from the slain militants after the encounter that took place around 4 am about 100 metres away from the headquarters. The militants were in the age group of 20-22 years.
The terrorists were carrying RDX in a tiffin box and they were planning to blast the entire complex, official sources said.
Giving details of the encounter, City Police Commissioner S P S Yadav told reporters at the site that a police team gave chase to their vehicle after they broke the first barrier about 200 metres from the headquarters.
When challenged by the police, they opened fire from their AK-56 rifles, he said, adding the trio was killed in retaliatory firing.
Mr Yadav said two police officers were injured in the encounter which lasted for about five minutes. The condition of one of the injured was stated to be serious.
The identities of the three are yet to be established, the police said.
Former RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said around 4-4.15 am, the militants came in an Ambassador car and tried to enter the headquarters in the Mahal area in the eastern part of the city. “We are happy that the police took firm action.”
Madhav said the police had prior information of a possibility of such an attack and had informed us about it and had stepped up the security at the headquarters.
The attack comes days after the police had recovered 30 kg of RDX, 17 AK-47 rifles and 50 hand grenades from Aurangabad, Ankai Fort and Malegaon in a span of one-week from May 7 to 14.
Condemning the terrorist bid, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh congratulated the police team for acting swiftly in foiling the attack. He also announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to the team.
He said the state government was closely working with Central intelligence agencies and would take prompt action as per the information it received.
The bodies of three terrorists were immediately taken to Government Medical College and Hospital for postmortem, Mr Yadav said.
The police has already cordoned off the entire city and launched a drive to nab their associates or accomplices if any hiding in the city.
— PTI
