Suspected militants attacked a General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) camp and killed three labourers near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu’s Akhnoor district on Monday morning.
A senior police official said an unknown number of Punjabi-speaking attackers came close to the GREF camp in the Battal area at around 1.30 a.m. “The gunmen entered the camp and were directing each other to sprinkle combustible material in the tents after they shot dead three labourers,” said a police official.
The deceased were identified as Salman Khan of Jharkhand, Ramesh Tipnu and Rashid Aslam, both from Uttar Pradesh.
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Security agencies fear the target may have been an Army installation located in the area. “We are not ruling out militants crossing over in the night and fleeing back after the attack,” said police officials. A major search operation is on. However, the security forces have failed to locate the militants.
At the time of attack, the camp was housing around a dozen employees of GREF, an organisation meant to build and maintain border roads in the country. All schools in the area were closed after the incident. Police said no eyewitness has come forward with any tip-off on the movement of the attackers.
In the past, the security agencies have pointed out an increasing role of the Border Action Team along with militant groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir to carry out attacks along the LoC. The spot is around 2 km away from LoC and the International Border is also nearby.
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On November 29 last year, militants attacked an Army camp in Jammu and killed seven soldiers.
Oppn. condemn attack
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack in the Assembly. “No one feels good over the killings. Everyone feels bad,” Ms. Mufti said.
Both lawmakers of the National Conference and the Congress created ruckus in the Assembly over the attack, seeking a government response.
“Three jawans were killed and we do not know what happened. Where has the 56 inch chest gone missing? [in a reference Prime Minister Narendra Modi]. Was it just a militant attack or the surgical strike by Pakistan?” asked NC MLA Devinder Singh Rana. Several BJP lawmakers raised slogans against Pakistan.
In 2015, there was a similar attack in Jammu when the Assembly session was on.