Seven children among 15 slain in Kashmir village

By Shujaat Bukhari

JAMMU, FEB. 10. In a shocking incident, 15 persons, including seven children, were shot dead before being burnt by unidentified gunmen in Sarohi village of Rajouri district in Jammu and Kashmir early this morning.

The Rajouri Superintendent of Police, Mr. Rajesh Kumar, told The Hindu over phone that around 2 a.m., a group of heavily-armed men descended on the village, about 80 km from Rajouri district headquarters, and asked for Mohammad Shafi, a village defence committee (VDC) member. He was not at home. They then entered a nearby house belonging to one Mr. Abdur Rasheed, where members of two families were sleeping, hurled grenades and fired indiscriminately. Mr. Kumar said seven children in the age group of 15 to 20, five women and three men died. The gunmen then set three houses on fire before fleeing. All the bodies were charred. Four of the deceased were identified as Mohammad Sharief, Rahim, Gulzar and Mohammad Bashir.

An Army unit, hearing about the incident over the wireless, reached the spot four-and-a-half hours later, while a party from the Budhal police station is expected to arrive tomorrow morning. The security forces, Mr. Kumar said, launched an operation to nab the gunmen.

The Governor, Mr. G. C. Saxena, and the Chief Minister, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, have expressed shock over the incident and condemned the militant action.

Security forces take control

Security forces today took control of the police control room in Srinagar, which was stormed by pro- Pakistan militants yesterday triggering a fierce gunbattle lasting over 13 hours that left eight policemen and two ultras dead. Six policemen were also injured in the attack, launched by four Lashkar-e-Taiba and Al Umar Mujahideen militants.

All ten bodies were recovered and troops were combing the area for the two militants who managed to escape, police said.

Dr. Abdullah, who rushed to the State capital from New Delhi this morning, convened a meeting of the Unified Headquarters tomorrow to review the situation.

According to police, four militants in police uniforms drove to the PCR around 7.30 p.m. in an Ambassador car. Two militants entered the area under the covering fire provided by the other two ultras. The police personnel present returned the fire and a fierce battle ensued in the complex, which houses the PCR, offices of the armed police constabulary, two battalion headquarters and the police hospital.

As the exchange of fire continued, the Army and BSF personnel were called in and the entire area cordoned off.

The entire area, resounding with the sound of gunfire, resembled a war zone, an eyewitness said.

The Minister of State for Home and Law, Mr. Mushtaq Lone, and the DGP, Mr. A. K. Suri, rushed to Srinagar from here to take stock of the situation.

Meanwhile, a Lashkar spokesman said only one militant of the group was killed and that the other person dead was a civilian.

Fernandes' assurance

A high-level Central team led by the Defence Minister, Mr. George Fernandes, which arrived in Srinagar this morning, assured the Sikh community that adequate steps would be taken to protect them.

The team, which included the Minister for Chemicals, Mr. S.S. Dhindsa, the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Prof. Chaman Lal Gupta, the SGPC president, Mr. J. S. Talwandi, the vice- chairman of the National Minorities Commission, Mr. Trilochan Singh, the Delhi GPC chairman, Mr. Avtar Singh, and the Rajya Sabha member, Mr. S. S. Ahluwalia, discussed the Mehjoor Nagar tragedy, in which 6 Sikhs were shot dead.

Mr. Fernandes conveyed the heartfelt sympathies of the Prime Minister, Mr. A. B. Vajpayee, and said the Government was aware of the trauma the Sikhs were going through. All aspects of the tragedy were being discussed and loopholes in the security network were being looked into, he said. The team impressed upon the Sikhs not to migrate from the Kashmir Valley as it would only compound the problem and fulfill the militants' designs.

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