Picked for questioning by Army, 3 Poonch residents found dead
Jammu, December 22
Three men were found dead under suspicious circumstances on Friday near the site of an ambush by terrorists on two Army vehicles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district that left four soldiers dead and three injured on Thursday, officials said.
The deceased were among the eight persons reportedly picked up by the Army for questioning in connection with Thursday’s attack at Dhatyar Morh, between Dhera Ki Gali and Bafliaz, under the jurisdiction of the Surankote police station, the officials said.
They said Safeer Hussain (43), Mohammad Showket (27) and Shabir Ahmad (32), all residents of Topa Peer village of Bafliaz, died under mysterious circumstances, but the cause of their death was not known immediately.
Poonch Deputy Commissioner Choudhary Mohammad Yasin and Senior Superintendent of Police Vinay Kumar reached Bafliaz following the reports of the deaths of the three men while Jammu Divisional Commissioner Ramesh Kumar was also expected to visit Surankote, the officials said.
Three or four heavily-armed terrorists targeted a Maruti Gypsy and a truck of the Army late Thursday afternoon, killing the four soldiers and injuring three. After the attack, the terrorists reportedly mutilated the bodies of at least two soldiers and took the weapons of some of them. The ambush was the second major incident in Poonch district this year. On April 20, five soldiers were killed and several others injured in a terrorist attack in the Bhimber Gali area of Poonch. Security officials say that probe is being carried out to know the pattern and use of weapons in the ambush. — PTI
Take steps to curb terror: Parties
Expressing concern over rise in terror incidents in Rajouri and Poonch districts, political parties have demanded immediate steps from the government to revive a sense of security among the people. J&K Congress leader Ravinder Sharma said, “We are concerned about the situation in the region. The Poonch ambush is an open challenge to the country by terrorists.”
