The Hindu : Fidayeen attack in Poonch: DSP, constable killed

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Mar 15, 2003

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Fidayeen attack in Poonch: DSP, constable killed

By Our Staff Reporter

JAMMU MARCH 14. In stepped-up violence in the border belt of Jammu region, a Deputy Superintendent of Police and a head constable were killed and seven injured in a fierce encounter with fidayeen (suicide squads) holed up in a hotel in Poonch town.

The encounter started at around 11.25 a.m. The Director-General of Police, A.K. Suri, said the attackers belonged either to the Laskar-e-Taiba or to the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit.

The terrorists were armed with sophisticated weaponry and police suffered initial casualties as the militants fired indiscriminately.

Three or four attackers may be holed up.

The militants who sneaked into a posh hotel situated near the bus stand were planning to carry out subversive activities.

The encounter started when, on the basis of a tip-off, police started searching the surroundings. Immediately, the militants sneaked into the hotel and fired from inside it. They also fired rocket launchers.

At around 2.25 p.m. the two policemen, Manjeet Singh, DSP, and Manohar Lal, head constable, were hit by bullets. They died on way to hospital.

The bodies of the police personnel were flown to Jammu later this evening.

The militants had reportedly taken a hotel employee hostage but the security personnel rescued him.

There were also reports that a CRPF jawan was killed but police refused to confirm them.

The Army was then called in to flush out the militants.

The visiting Minister of State for Home, I.D. Swami, had earlier called on the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, to review the security situation prevailing in the State. The meeting lasted 20 minutes.

The fidayeen attack in Poonch comes 24 hours after a bomb blast on a bus in Rajouri killing two persons and injuring many.

RDX recovered

PTI reports:

Security forces today busted two militant hideouts and recovered a large quantity of explosives, including 200 kg of RDX, in Doda and Udhanpur districts of Jammu Division.

The RDX was recovered from a hideout in Hamirpur area of Doda District.

Plastic cans containing 50 litres of acetyline, a bundle of copper wire, 10 kh of shrapnel and one kg of sulphuric acid were also recovered from the hideout.

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