R.R. Bhatnagar, Director-General, Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), said on Monday that the three terrorists who stormed the CRPF camp at Lethpora in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir early on Sunday took advantage of the under-construction campus which had “huge structures to hide in”.
Mr. Bhatnagar told The Hindu that none of the personnel were caught off-guard and the force took more than 30 hours to end the operation as two of the terrorists had entered the two buildings and the personnel made “room-interventions” to evacuate the people stuck there.
“We managed to neutralise all the three fidayeens [suicide squad] who had attacked the campus and also managed to extricate all our people in the two buildings safely. Our men were not caught napping, they were all combat casualties, it was a complex operation,” Mr. Bhatnagar said.
The officer said as prior intelligence was available, the CRPF parties were out patrolling and one of the terrorists was cornered near the perimeter wall.
“Initially two CRPF personnel were injured, three others were subsequently martyred in exchange of fire and room interventions. We had to take on the terrorists face to face. They had to clear the rooms one by one. The fourth one died outside the cordon and the fifth personnel died of cardiac arrest,” Mr. Bhatnagar said.
One of the buildings which the terrorists took over housed a hospital, a radio signal facility and an administrative block where 11 personnel were present.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who celebrated New Year with the ITBP jawans posted along the China border, said the sacrifices of the jawans would not go in vain. Mr. Singh said, “Our neighbour, Pakistan, does not stop its activities, but the jawans of our Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police are doing their duty very well.”
“The operation took more than 30 hours as we suspended it on December 31 night, then we recommenced at daybreak until we were able to locate all the three fidayeens who had entered the campus. Our troops were able to box them and the fidayeens were armed with under barrel grenade launchers and sophisticated weapons,” Mr. Bhatnagar said.
Well-trained militants
The officer said various sources had confirmed that the terrorists belonged to JeM and were “well trained”. Two terrorists — Fardeen Mohibuddin and Manzoor Ahmed Baba — were from Tral and Pulwama districts respectively. The third is said to be from Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir and was identified as Ali Sozal.
“The militants opened indiscriminate fire and launched grenades in their attempt to enter the premises,” CRPF spokesman Rajesh Yadav said on Sunday.
