A three-member fidayeen squad from across the border carried out audacious twin terror strikes on Hira Nagar Police Station in Kathua and an Army camp in Samba on Thursday, killing ten people, including a lieutenant-Colonel, three Army personnel, four Jammu & Kashmir policemen and two civilians.
The terrorists, dressed in combat uniform, shot most of the security personnel in the head, leaving no scope for survival. An unknown outfit ‘Shohada Brigade’, which is suspected to be leT’s proxy name, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The three terrorists were killed by security forces after a nine-hour-long operation. However, the attack exposed the chinks in the security ring and the lack of coordination between police, paramilitary and the Army. The attack came despite alerts and advance warnings of a terrorist strike in Jammu region.
Intelligence agencies had already warned that terror outfits based in Pakistan were aiming to spread the ‘arc of terror’ in the otherwise peaceful Jammu region.
The Pioneer had first reported in detail on September 12 about a group of 25 militants sneaking into Jammu region from Poonch to engineer terrorist incidents and the fact that the Army and Intelligence agencies were hunting for them.
The possibility of the attack being carried out to derail the scheduled talks between Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Nawaz Sharif on September 29 is not ruled out
According to eyewitness reports from Hira Nagar in Kathua the bloodbath started around 6.45 am on Thursday when the three terrorists stormed Hira Nagar Police Station killing four policemen present there.
The terrorists had arrived there in an auto-rickshaw. The driver of the auto-rickshaw, recuperating in GMC Hospital in Jammu, claimed that the three men, dressed in combat uniform, had boarded his vehicle by holding him hostage on gun point and directed him to drop them on the National Highway.
He said the three terrorists spoke in chaste Urdu and their shoes had fresh mud on them indicating that they had crossed over shortly.
As they passed Hira Nagar Police Station these men saw some policemen standing there and directed him to stop the auto. He claimed that instead of stopping the auto he jumped out in order to raise an alarm.
The terrorists fired at him and injured him. After entering the police station the terrorists fired indiscriminately on the policemen killing four of them.The militants then commandeered a truck on gun point and drove the 16-17-km stretch on NH1-A to the 16 Cavalry unit of the Army before storming it.
Two civilians, including the truck driver were also killed by the terrorists in Hira Nagar.The laxity of the State police was exposed as police check points on the highway between Hira Nagar and Samba failed to neutralise the terrorists.
It is not confirmed whether the police control room had alerted various Army installations along the National Highway to activate their Quick Reaction Teams.
The terrorists stormed the Army camp in Mesar area of Samba and breached the different layers of security inside the Army camp before shooting a senior Army officer of the rank of lieutenant-Colonel at point blank range. Three soldiers were also killed in the attack. The terrorists also injured the Commanding Officer, whose condition is said to be stable now.
According to eyewitness reports, the three terrorists first neutralised the sentry at the main gate. Once inside the three men headed straight towards the officers mess and launched a fierce attack.
The Army had to press additional forces and use helicopters to track down the terrorists and neutralise them.The Jammu-Pathankot Highway also remained closed from early morning forcing passengers to cancel their travel plans.
The terrorists, according to IG Jammu range, Rajesh Kumar, could have infiltrated recently from across the border to carry out the terror plot. In order to neutralise the three terrorists the Army commandos also blasted a portion of the officer's mess to eliminate them, official sources said.
lt-Col Bikramjeet Singh, hailing from Chandigarh was martyred along with Kiran Kumar Reddy, Indira Singh and Mishala Shrinivas.
From the J&K police ASI Rattan Singh, Constable Shiv Kumar, Selection Grade Constable Pradeep Singh, SPO Mukesh Kumar, local shopkeeper Suresh Kumar, driver of the civil truck were killed in the attack. ASI Gangu Ram, conductor of the truck and two civilians were also injured in the attack.
Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah who arrived here this afternoon paid rich tributes to the Police and Army martyrs who attained martyrdom in the terrorist attacks. He described the sacrifices of personnel as the highest degree of commitment towards the country symbolizing bravery and patriotism.
The Chief Minister visited Hira Nagar Police lines to personally lay wreaths on the bodies of martyrs and salute their martyrdom. He also met the family members of the deceased who had arrived at the Police lines, consoled them and conveyed his solidarity and sympathy.
Earlier, the Chief Minister chaired a high-level meeting of Police and Civil Administration to receive first hand news of the ground situation. In view of the prevailing law and order situation the district administration in Jammu has announced closure of all educational institutions on Friday.
"However, any examination of colleges/university and institutions of higher education shall be conducted as per schedule" an order of the Deputy Commissioner, Jammu said. Meanwhile, to register protest against the terror attack the BJP and Bar Association, Jammu has also given a call for Jammu bandh on Friday.