A major terror attack was foiled during the early hours of Wednesday after the gunmen stopped to ask villagers for water. The incident took place in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir with a CRPF soldier losing his life during the ensuing operation. Six security personnel were also injured during two separate overnight encounters with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir.
“They asked for water from a few houses to which villagers grew suspicious and slammed the doors on them and a few raised hue and cry. The terrorists panicked and fired randomly in the air and also at one odd villager who was passing by,” Hindustan Times quoted a senior official as saying in a statement.
One of the terrorists had tried to throw a grenade upon seeing the police arrive and was killed instantly. A second terrorist managed to escape and later killed a CRPF jawan while trying to break the security cordon set up by the police. The miscreant was eventually killed during the search operation. Eyewitnesses suggest that the attack could have led to mass civilian casualties if the terrorists had gone undetected.
“A tragedy was averted because I raised an alarm about terrorists in the village. Many children were playing, and people were out walking. They could have easily killed 15 to 20 people, mostly children. People were heading to Satsang in the evening. It could have been catastrophic,” eyewitness Surinder told PTI.
The villager said that he had encountered the armed men (who asked for water) while returning to his hamlet around 7:30 pm. Suspicious of their behavior, he had immediately warned the other villagers and sought help.
“I was on my bike when a child informed me about two armed youths in the village. I saw them dressed in black with AK rifles, calling me to approach them. I suspected they were terrorists and warned the villagers, leading them to rush home. Shops closed and vehicles stopped,” Surinder recounted.
(With inputs from agencies)
