Militants storm GREF camp near LoC, kill three labourers, injure another

Three civilian labourers were killed and one was injured after (at least two) heavily armed militants stormed into the General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) camp, just (two and half kilometers) away from the Line of Control (LoC) in Battal village in the Jorian area of Akhnoor in Jammu division of Jammu and Kashmir.

The attack took place at 1.30am (according to defence sources) on Monday when the civilian labourers were sleeping inside the camp. The heavily armed militants went on a rampage for about half an hour, firing indiscriminately, throwing grenades and setting vehicles on fire (according to sources)

Lieutenant Colonel Manish Mehta, Defence Spokesperson in Jammu, said, "Terrorists attacked GREF camp located in General area Battal (used in military parlance to define a huge area with population) at abou 0130 hours.There is a GREF platoon ( already cleared in next line) stationed there. There were 10 GREF personnel and about eight to 10 casual labourers. As per the inputs ( It is defence spokesman saying therefore these are official inputs from the army which he will not reveal obviously), three causal labourers have attained martyrdom and one was injured."

The slain have been identified as Salman Khan, 21 of Mandhata, Pratapgarh, UP, Irshad Alam, 21 of Dharpur, Pratapgarh, UP and Romesh Topno, of Gamala, Jharkhand.

The labourers were a part of the unarmed detachment that is involved in the construction of strategic defence infrastructure along the LoC. Sources said the militants, besides inflicting casualties and (torched some of the vehicles and even burnt some official papers ). They tried to set fire a building also.

"Some labourers survived bullets because they took refuge in a room which was untouched by the militants. Militants broke the locks of other rooms looking for men and material. But fortunately, they did not enter the room where the rest of the labourers were hiding," said an officer.

Security forces suspect that they infiltrated into India from across the border (they are suspecting). Some reports however suggest that given the area's proximity to LoC, they would have been launched from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to mount the attack. "We are looking into all possibilities. There is a possibility that the militants might have sneaked recently and attacked the camp," said an official.

Indian army has launched a massive search operation in and around the camp to trace the militants. Reinforcements have been rushed in to help in the search operation along with the Village Defence Committee members who also have joined the operation.

"Army is conducting a search operation. They have cordoned off the entire area. All the GREF personnel and other casual civil labourers who were in the camp have been rescued," said Lt Col Mehta.

Fear has gripped the villagers living in the area as the militants are still on the loose. District administration has shut all schools and other educational institutions as a precautionary measure since the search operation is still underway. "There is a massive area domination by the army (to instill confidence among the people)", said Simrandeep Singh, District Development Commissioner, Jammu.

The issue rocked the Legislative Assembly when it resumed the session after break on Monday. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti while speaking during the Adjournment Motion in the Legislative Assembly underscored the need for working together to end the cycle of violence and bloodshed in the State.

Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Dr Nirmal Singh said that such dastardly acts handiwork of the elements trying to disrupt the peace in the state and they would be dealt with iron hand.

"Security forces would give befitting reply to these elements of death and destruction who are trying hard to create chaos in the state," he said.