Rajouri Terror Attack: Terrorists Asked For ID Cards To Identify Hindus For Killing, Say Reports

At least Four civilians were killed and six others injured when terrorists opened fire on three houses in a village in Jammu and Kashmir's border district of Rajouri Sunday evening.

This was the first such attack in the past many years in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region and coincided with the first day of the New Year.

Additional Director General of Police, Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh said police, along with the Army and the CRPF, have launched a massive search operation to nab the two “armed men” behind the attack at Upper Dangri village, about eight kilometres from Rajouri town.

“Firing took place at three houses, separated at a distance of around 50 metres from each other. Two civilians have succumbed to injuries and four others are injured,” Singh said.

However, officials said two more injured civilians succumbed to injuries, taking the death toll to four.

Two terrorists were involved in the attack, India Today reported citing sources.

The incident took place at nearly 7 pm on Sunday, when the two terrorists made their way through the forests and barged into three houses of the Hindu community, the sources were cited as saying in the India Today report.

“The firing ended within 10 minutes. First, they attacked a house in Upper Dangri and then they moved 25 meters away and shot several people there. They also fired on another house 25 meters away from the second house while fleeing the village,” an official said.

He said a total of 10 persons were hit by the bullets and three of them were declared brought dead at the Government Medical College hospital Rajouri, while another critically injured succumbed while being airlifted to Jammu along with two other injured persons.

The deceased have been identified as Satish Kumar (45), Deepak Kumar (23), Pritam Lal (57) and Shishu Pal (32), the official said.

The injured have been identified as Pawan Kumar (38), Rohit Pandit (27), Saroj Bala (35), Ridham Sharma (17) and Pawan Kumar (32), he said.

Deeraj Kumar Sharma, sarpanch of Dangri, said gunshots were heard around 7 pm and after some time their intensity increased.

Later, I received calls that there was firing by terrorists, he added.

Kumar said it was after a long time that targeted killings were carried out in the area.

He termed the incident as a major security lapse.

According to a News18 report, the village sarpanch said that the terrorists checked the identity cards of victims before killing them and as soon as the they saw the Hindu name on the identity card, they shot the victims.

The incident caused panic and protests were held with several organisations including traders’ bodies calling for a general strike in the district on Monday.

Additional deployments have been made in sensitive areas as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order, the officials said.

A group of people, who gathered outside GMC hospital Rajouri, shouted slogans against Pakistan and terrorists for the innocent killings.

Protesters also shouted slogans against the Lt Governor administration and security agencies for not tackling the threat of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists effectively, eyewitnesses said.

The officials said security forces are conducting a massive search but there was no trace of the assailants so far.

(With inputs from PTI)