Janglote (Kathua), March 28
In daring twin attacks 12 days ahead of the General Election, three heavily-armed Pakistani terrorists struck on the outskirts of Jammu in Kathua district early Friday morning killing two civilians and a soldier and injuring four others.

All three fidayeens were eliminated by the Army in a protracted and fierce gun-battle that raged from 7 am in the dense jungles near the Army’s III Rocket Unit that has an ammunition depot. The Army was assisted by the CRPF and the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Militant outfit Al-Shuhada Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack. Sporting Army fatigues, the three armed terrorists first struck around 4.45 am at Dayalachak on the Jammu-Pathankot highway in Kathua district, 87 km from Jammu. They stopped a white Mahindra Bolero pick-up carrier and asked its five occupants, including driver Tarsem Singh of RS Pura, to alight and line-up. After separating the driver, they told the other passengers to lie down and then run. The terrorists sprayed bullets on the travellers after they started running.

While Amarjeet Kumar of Vijaypur died on the spot, three others — identified as Gurpreet Singh, Saheb Singh and Kamaljeet Singh from Gurdaspur — were injured. They were shifted to the Sub District Hospital in Hiranagar and referred to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, for specialised treatment. They had come to pay obeisance at the Radha Soami Ashram in Keran area of Jammu and were headed back to Beas in Punjab when the terrorists struck.

The terrorists hijacked the vehicle at gunpoint and told its driver Tarsem Singh to drive to Janglote (towards Kathua), nearly 15 km from Dayalachak. It is believed that before reaching Janglote around 7 am, the militants took the vehicle to Dalwa and Jandvi close to the border.

The militants abandoned the vehicle at Sar Khud, a dry rivulet, and then headed towards Army unit (III Rocket). They tried to storm the camp, but an alert sentry repulsed the attack. The Army, the CRPF and the police engaged the terrorists in a fierce gunbattle. Lance Naik V Anthony Nirmal Viji was killed while another Havildar Pardeep Kumar was injured, said Jammu-based defence ministry spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta.

The body of driver Tarsem Singh — initially believed to have been held hostage and taken inside the jungle to be used as a shield — was found at Logate Morh. In the nearly 12-hour gunbattle, while two of the terrorists were eliminated by 1 pm, the third one was killed around 6.30 pm.