Sunday, Apr 27, 2003
Sunday, Apr 27, 2003 |
| Front Page | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Front Page
By Shujaat Bukhari
The body of a militant who was killed in a gunbattle between a suicide squad and the BSF at the AIR station in Srinagar on Saturday.
Around 1 p.m, as the Station Director, Rafeeq Ahmed Masoodi, was supervising the recording of a musical concert, an explosives-laden car drove to the gate of the heavily-barricaded station and exploded, apparently triggered by remote control. The driver and a CRPF jawan nearby died instantly. The car, which had a red light on its roof, was smashed beyond recognition. Two militants, who reportedly got off from the car a safe distance away and took shelter in a mosque nearby, hurled grenades and began firing from automatic rifles. The CRPF men guarding the complex which also houses the Doordarshan Kendra returned the fire and a fierce battle ensued. The Quick Reaction Team of the Border Security Force's 127 battalion, which is constantly on the move, rushed to the spot and encircled the two militants who had come out of the mosque. "One was killed at the TRC crossing and another was shot dead near the Poloview side gate," the DIG BSF, Des Raj, said later. Before his death one of the militants hurled a grenade at a BSF jawan killing him instantly. Four BSF and three CRPF personnel besides a AIR security official were injured. While the station gate bore the brunt of the blast, a portion of the boundary wall, some guardrooms and the adjacent barracks were completely damaged. The window-panes of rooms in the entire station and adjoining building were smashed. Life came to a grinding halt in the entire Civil Lines area, as police and paramilitary forces cordoned off the entire stretch from Poloview to Dalgate and diverted the traffic to other routes. The scene in the Radio Kashmir building was understandably chaotic. Later in the evening, a spokesman for the Al Madina militant outfit called up newspaper offices and said members of the group were responsible for the attack but did not give any details. In another incident, 11 persons were injured, five of them seriously, when militants detonated a landmine in Azad Gunj area of Baramulla minutes after the State Finance Minister, Muzaffar Hussain Beig, inaugurated a bank branch there. Sources said, "the attack was aimed at Mr. Beig but since his cavalcade had a jammer the landmine could not explode.'' "However, as soon as the jammer was out of reach the mine exploded." All the injured have been admitted in the hospital.
CM condemns attack
PTI reports: Condemning the attack, the Chief Minister, Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, said by stepping up violence, especially when the peace process has been initiated, the militants and their mentors had demonstrated their obvious designs to thwart restoration of normalcy. He said, "it is our solemn pledge to the people to restore peace with dignity in the State and we would continue to work for it with the people's support".
Related Stories:
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | The Hindu eBooks | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
