Two killed, three injured in LeT attack in Kathua, J&K

Heavily-armed fidayeen militants dressed as army men carried out two audacious attacks killing three people including a soldier, and injuring four others in Dayalachak and Janglote areas of Kathua district in Jammu division.

All the three fidayeens (members of suicidal attack) were later killed by the security forces in the ensuing gun-battle that lasted for 10 hours in the forests of Janglote. 

The attack came just two days after the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi hit out at Pakistan in the inaugural Bharat Vijay rally in Hiranagar falling in the same district of Jammu.

Police said around three militants dressed in army uniform stopped a Bolero vehicle near Dayalachak area and asked the inmates to de-board at around 5am. The militants later fired indiscriminately killing one of them and injuring three others.  "Three militants wearing army uniforms stopped the vehicle and asked the passengers to disembark. They took the driver along but not before firing at the people killing one of them and injuring three others," said a local resident.

Police said the ultras later forced the driver to take them towards Kathua on the Jammu-Pathankote national highway. When they reached near Janglote, they abandoned the vehicle on a dirt road and tried to storm the army artillery unit in the area. However, the alert sentry fired at the militants forcing them to beat the retreat into the nearby jungles. Police and army immediately encircled the area to hunt down the ultras. Militants however fired on the forces triggering a fierce encounter. Security forces had pressed the surveillance choppers into service to track down the ultras.

Three ultras and an army soldier were killed and another injured in the 10-hour-long gun-battle which ended Friday evening. Security forces also found the body of the driver, whose hands were tied and mouth gagged, some one kilometer away from the encounter site. 

Special director general of Jammu and Kashmir Police Kondaveeti Rajendra Kumar told dna that police and other security agencies averted a major tragedy by thwarting the militants' designs in Kathua. "Police was the first to get the information. We immediately relayed the message to the all security forces. All the security forces were alert and that is why the militants could not enter into the army camp", he said.

Kumar noted that they had taken several initiatives after the last (September fidayeen attack in Samba and Hiranagar) which resulted in thwarting the militant designs on Friday. "We have put several mechanisms in place. We have churned new SOPs. All these efforts have helped us today", he said.

The attack has come six months after fidayeen militants carried out two audacious attacks on the security forces installations in Kathua and Samba districts leaving 12 people dead including a lieutenant
colonel of the army. Seven others including the commanding officer of the army camp were injured in the incident.

Sources said the militants were part of the fidayeen squad who had planned to carry out sensational suicide attack in Jammu area. Security forces are trying to find out when these fidayeen had sneaked into Jammu. "We are investigating the matter and trying to figure out who the militants were", said an officer. 

Describing the attack as barbarian, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah said it has amply exposed the anti-human face of terrorists.