Gulmarg attack: Police say four terrorists involved as hunt continues for second day
Three to four militants are believed to have carried out the deadly attack on an Army convoy in the Gulmarg sector of Baramulla district that left four people, including two soldiers, dead, a senior police official said on Saturday.
A convoy of the 18 Rashtriya Rifles was en route to Gulmarg when one of its vehicles was ambushed in the Butapathri area, near Gulmarg, on Thursday evening.
Meanwhile, for the second consecutive day on Saturday, the security forces continued massive search in areas surrounding Gulmarg, police officials said.
Baramulla Senior Superintendent of Police Mohammad Zaid said the search operation is continuing in the area. “The search operation, which entered the second day, was halted on Friday night and resumed on Saturday morning. Police, Army and paramilitary personnel are involved in the operation,” he said, adding that searches are being conducted in Baba Reshi and forest areas in Gulmarg as well as the built-up area before it.
“According to the evidence we got from there, 3-4 militants were involved in the attack,” he said. The SSP said security forces had been carrying out many input-based search operations on the militants in the Pattan-Kreeri area of the Baramulla district in the days ahead of the attack.
On Friday, security forces deployed drones and helicopters for a massive search operation in the area and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Gulmarg sector.
Security forces were also using human and technical intelligence inputs to aid the search operation launched to trace and neutralise the terrorists behind the attack, officials said.
Senior officers of the police and Army are overseeing the operation. J&K Police chief Nalin Prabhat also visited Baramulla on Saturday to hold a meeting with the security officials.
The two soldiers, who were killed in the attack, were identified as Rifleman Kaisar Ahmad Shah from Anantnag and Rifleman Jeevan Singh from Sirsa district in Haryana. The Army said attackers left behind a weapon and a rucksack and both soldiers demonstrated exceptional bravery, retaliating despite being injured, which ultimately forced the attackers to flee and prevented additional casualties.
Following the attack, it is suspected that the terrorists fled into dense forest nearby, leveraging the limited visibility due to dusk and using the natural cover provided by the terrain.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which according to the security forces is an offshoot of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed has purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
